Wine Advocate
byRobert Parkerthe8/29/2014
The classic Pauillac notes of cedar wood, Christmas fruitcake and creme de cassis make an appearance in this wine. With vineyards well-situated on the so-called Milon Plateau adjacent to vineyards owned by Mouton Rothschild and Lafite Rothschild, its neighborhood is luxury-class and the wine is beginning to reflect that. It is medium to full-bodied, shows good, even excellent depth, impressive purity, no herbaceousness or astringency and plenty of blue and black fruits that are often characteristic of a top Pauillac. The tannins are light, so the wine is best drunk in its first 10-12 years of life.
A long-time underachiever, and probably the worst Pauillac-classified growth for decades, this estate is finally returning to form since it was purchased in 2009 by French real estate mogul Jacky Lorenzetti. Enormous investments have been made in the vineyard and winery, and this is now a well-run, state-of-the-art operation in which the resulting product is reflected. The final blend when tasted was 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Production is relatively small, up to 25% less than in 2012, due to the low yields of the vintage as well as the selection process.