Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
A firm, complex wine, solidly based on ripe tannins, dark flavors. There is some spice and juiciness to fit with the dense tannins.
Barrel Sample: 93-95 Points -
Wine Spectator
A red with a solid core of blueberry and currant aromas, with spices too. Full-bodied, with chewy tannins and a balanced finish. Very pretty.
Barrel Sample: 92-95 Points -
James Suckling
Aromas of cocoa powder and currants, follow through to a full body, with ultra-fine tannins and a juicy, berry and chocolate aftertaste. Lovely polish to this. Try in 2018.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is the most impressive Talbot since the 1982 and 1986. It reveals an opaque plum/garnet/purple color as well as knock-out aromas of black fruits, cedar, incense, licorice, and a Provencal garrigue-like character. Substantial, sexy, and seductive, it is almost slutty in its exuberance and ostentatiousness. It was a thrill to drink this loaded St.-Julien. It should offer irresistible drinking over the next 20-25 years.
Barrel Sample: 92-94 Points
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
An icon of balance and tradition, St. Julien boasts the highest proportion of classed growths in the Médoc. What it lacks in any first growths, it makes up in the rest: five amazing second growth chateaux, two superb third growths and four well-reputed fourth growths. While the actual class rankings set in 1855 (first, second, and so on the fifth) today do not necessarily indicate a score of quality, the classification system is important to understand in the context of Bordeaux history. Today rivalry among the classed chateaux only serves to elevate the appellation overall.
One of its best historically, the estate of Leoville, was the largest in the Médoc in the 18th century, before it was divided into the three second growths known today as Chateau Léoville-Las-Cases, Léoville-Poyferré and Léoville-Barton. Located in the north section, these are stone’s throw from Chateau Latour in Pauillac and share much in common with that well-esteemed estate.
The relatively homogeneous gravelly and rocky top soil on top of clay-limestone subsoil is broken only by a narrow strip of bank on either side of the “jalle,” or stream, that bisects the zone and flows into the Gironde.
St. Julien wines are for those wanting subtlety, balance and consistency in their Bordeaux. Rewarding and persistent, the best among these Bordeaux Blends are full of blueberry, blackberry, cassis, plum, tobacco and licorice. They are intense and complex and finish with fine, velvety tannins.