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The introduction of a third wine at Duhart shows the focus on quality at this estate in the Rothschild stable. Jean-Sebastien Philippe is so right when he says that “Cabernet Sauvignon was king” for them in 2021. This blend of 81% Cabernet and 19% Merlot has fine aromatics of blueberry and damson. It has wonderful tight Pauillac tension, excellent intensity combining plush mocha and dark berry flavours, and a focused freshness. So alive, this has great ageing potential.
The introduction of a third wine at Duhart shows the focus on quality at this estate in the Rothschild stable. Jean-Sebastien Philippe is so right when he says that “Cabernet Sauvignon was king” for them in 2021. This blend of 81% Cabernet and 19% Merlot has fine aromatics of blueberry and damson. It has wonderful tight Pauillac tension, excellent intensity combining plush mocha and dark berry flavours, and a focused freshness. So alive, this has great ageing potential.
The 2021 Duhart-Milon, which is aged in 50% new oak, has a clean, precise bouquet of mineral-driven black fruit and touches of pencil lead and cedar. The palate is medium-bodied, fresh and focused, with sappy black fruit and fine depth. This is a typically classically styled Duhart-Milon, though it does not quite have the persistence to rank as a top-rank vintage. But it will appeal to those who appreciate old-school Pauillac. Drink 2026 - 2045
The 2021 Duhart-Milon is a potent, brooding wine. Dark fruit, herbs, licorice and incense fill out the layers nicely. The oak still needs time to come together, but that is what élevage is for. The 2021 is a serious Duhart. Whether or not it will acquire a bit more charm remains an open question. Drink 2028-2041
Incorporating fully 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2021 Duhart-Milon unwinds in the glass with aromas of sweet berries, cigar wrapper and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, lively and persuasively concentrated, with beautifully refined tannins and a long, penetrating finish, it's a classy, serious wine that reflects all the progress this estate has been making over the last decade.
In contrast to the second wine, Moulin de Duhart, there has been an effort made to make Duhart a much more structured and intense style, and with the high levels of Cabernet, this is a stricter, more rigid red with a more pure and focussed cassis theme and more obvious oak, too. But the lighter frame makes it easy to identify, and the result is a refined wine with an immovable Pauillac identity. There is a historically low percentage of Merlot in this vintage, and some of the Cabernet from only five-year-old vines was deemed of sufficient quality to make the grade.
Flowers, black cherries, earth and a hint of coffee bean for the nose. On the medium-bodied palate, the wine is soft, fresh, gentle and elegant, with a focus on the purity in the fruit, and the refinement in the tannins in the mid-palate and in the finish. The wine is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Merlot. This is the second vintage produced in the new cellars which helped a lot this year, due to the ability to vinify on a parcel by parcel basis. Drink from 2024-2042.
Precise and finessed black fruits here right from the first moments, this is high Cabernet Sauvignon, lovely black savoury fruits that suit the slighly serious feel of Duhart. Expect precision, strict tannins, straight lines, plenty of freshness but without the rusticity that you could find in older Duharts. About 15% press wine after careful extraction and a short maceration. A little more old school Duhart than we have seen over the past few years, but thoroughly enjoyable. 1st year organic conversion, 30hl/h yields.
Due south of St Estèphe lies the appellation of Pauillac, the king of Left Bank communes. It is home to three first growths as well as a plethora of other classified growths. Pauillac's renowned well-draining, gravelly soils enable its dominant grape Cabernet Sauvignon to reach fantastic heights of complexity and concentration. As a result, Pauilac's wines tend to be full-bodied with compact tannins and good freshness. Its aromatics are often what one associates with classic Bordeaux: pencil shavings, black currant and occasional mint. Some of the most famous châteaux of the commune are Latour, Mouton Rothschild, Lafite Rothschild, Pichon Baron, Pichon Lalande and Lynch Bages.
