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Goedhuis, April 2022, Score: 95-97
This famous estate offers a unique representation of the great soils of St Emilion. It is spectacular this year, with layers of dark fruit, vanilla pod from 100% new oak and mixed spices. The fruit has a noticeable opulence to it, generous but fortunately not alcoholic. The leathery, dry tannins keep everything in check, beautifully sweet with a return of the spice and oak on the finish. Hedonistic but quite lovely!
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Neal Martin, April 2022, Score: 94-96
The 2021 Tertre-Rôteboeuf was tasted directly from barrel à la Bourgogne. (Why don't more châteaux do this, if logistically convenient?) It has a comparatively less explosive, gourmand bouquet compared to vintages that I have tasted at this stage in recent years, featuring dark berries, hints of blueberry, iris flower and an underlying mineralité that only surfaces after 3–4 minutes in the glass. The harmonious palate is an absolute stunner. It delivers brilliant delineation and purity, one of the most energetic Tertre-Rôtebouefs that I have encountered, and a dash of black pepper on the finish. I have to confess: I had to have a sneaky sip of this. Drink 2029 - 2055
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Antonio Galloni, April 2022, Score: 94-96
The 2021 Tertre-Rôteboeuf is a wine very much in its style, which means deep, fleshy and unctuous. Black cherry, gravel, chocolate, cloves and menthol infuse the 2021 deep layers of intensity that build in the glass. Even in 2021, Tertre-Rôteboeuf is a wine of real texture and dynamism. As always, Tertre-Rôteboeuf is an exotic, quirky wine that exists in its own little world, and what a beautiful world that is. Drink 2031-2061
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Wine Advocate, April 2022, Score: 94-96
The 2021 Le Tertre Roteboeuf is extremely promising, unwinding in the glass with aromas of cherries, mulberries and plums mingled with subtle hints of spices, raw cocoa, espresso roast and cigar wrapper. Medium to full-bodied, ample and seamless, it's deep and concentrated, with a layered, sensual mid-palate that's supple and lively, concluding with a long, expansive finish. This is just the sort of vintage that François Mitjaville excels in, and it is worth a special effort to seek out.
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Matthew Jukes, April 2022, Score: 18.5
There is such a beguiling nose here it is extraordinary. While the wines here are always fascinating, there is a coolness and precision here that is compelling and rather than a diminution of experience, it serves to control and focus the palate to unusual results. The oak notes, in particular, are almost invisible on the nose. The fruit is so sleek and so smooth that it refuses to allow the oak to emerge from its core. The balance is remarkable, and the finish gently scours the palate, scruffing the taste buds and gently coaxing them back into action for the next sip. TR21 is a perfumer's best friend! The fruit notes and spices are familiar if you are a fan. The rose petal, mulberry, wild cherry, hedgerow-plucked blackberries and even faint hints of peach kernel and violet details are all sensational.
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Wine Cellar Insider, April 2022, Score: 93-95
Flowers, spice, crushed stone, savory red fruit, raspberries, 5 spice, cinnamon, cherries and peppery spices create on the most compelling noses of the vintage. On the palate, the wine is earthy, lush, round and continues in the spicy mode in the mid-palate all the way through to the finish. The blend is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, 14% ABV, the harvest took place October 5 - October 15. Drink from 2024-2045.
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Jane Anson, April 2022, Score: 95
It's a brave estate that makes 100% 1st wine in the 2021 vintage, but Tertre Rotebeouf is perfectly placed on south-facing slopes, with obsessive attention to detail in the vineyard from the Mitjavile family. One to look out for, this has rich aromatics, a touch of reduction, fleshy black cherry, smoked earth, powerful liquorice bud, rose petals and clove spice, expanding through the mid palate. Works both in terms of the estate signature and in showcasing the potential of the 2021 vintage for sculpted but still concentrated wines in the right spots. Brilliant stuff. No crushing of the grapes here but full destemming, no cold soaks, 16% press wine, 100% new oak.