Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Another strong showing from the Côtes, this time from Mathieu Chardonnier's home estate. You would be extremely happy to share this impactful, fleshy but uncomplicated wine with friends. It showcases the potential of a 100% Merlot wine, allowing itself to rely simply on juicy, ripe fruit to make an impression.
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James Suckling
Intense red-clay and blackberry aromas with brambleberries and mushrooms, too. Full-bodied, soft and round, yet the tannins pull you in with their power. Pretty depth and intensity. Needs time to mellow.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Marsau is medium to deep garnet-purple in color with a savory, meaty, earthy nose of smoked meats and scorched earth over a core of warm plums and blackberry pie plus a hint of pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, it has a firm, chewy structure and good concentration of muscular fruit, finishing savory/sweet.
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Wine Spectator
Very solid, with a beam of black currant and fig paste flavors enlivened with singed juniper and warm tobacco notes. Reveals a light charcoal hint through the finish. Focused and fresh. Drink now through 2021.
With generous fruit and supple tannins, Merlot is made in a range of styles from everyday-drinking to world-renowned and age-worthy. Merlot is the dominant variety in the wines from Bordeaux’s Right Bank regions of St. Emilion and Pomerol, where it is often blended with Cabernet Franc to spectacular result. Merlot also frequently shines on its own, particularly in California’s Napa Valley. Somm Secret—As much as Miles derided the variety in the 2004 film, Sideways, his prized 1961 Château Cheval Blanc is actually a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc.
On the right bank of Bordeaux between St. Emilion and Bergerac, Cotes de Francs boasts southwestern exposed slopes that produce robust Merlot-based wines. A tiny amount of Sémillon is grown and made in both dry and sweet styles.