Tasting about the Crus Artisans classification from the Médoc area, left bank of Bordeaux. During July of 2019 I tasted the 2016 vintage. Here are the notes !
THE WINES
Château Bejac Romelys 2016, Médoc appellation
A powerful wine with a long, complex and intense length. Nice potential of aging.
88/100
Château Haut-Blaignan 2016, Médoc appellation
A beautiful part of fine spices and a great creamy texture on the palate for this wine, already drinkable and pleasant.
87-88/100
Château Cadet Terrefort 2016, Médoc appellation
This wine is more shaped for long aging. It needs aeration. On the palate the texture is pleasant. Few herbaceous notes are also presents on a moderate part.
87/100
Château La Tessonière 2016, Médoc appellation
Time is necessary for this wine but just waiting one year could be very interesting. Texture is rich, creamy, and the length is nice with a good astringency. For the enthusiasts of this style.
88-89/100
Château Garance Haut Grenat 2016, Médoc appellation
A great complexity appears with aeration. Beautiful creamy texture, well balanced, with dark and red fruits, and also spices. Tannins are well shaped and a slighty touch of salinity is also present. There is some complexity in this wine, and the texture is really interesting. Potential of aging is also good. This wine has many qualities.
89-90/100
Domaine Grand Lafont 2016, Haut-Médoc appellation
Fresh notes of red and black fruits. Elegant texture and good maturity of the fruits. Yummy ! Fine spices on the length with a slighty touch of salinity, very pleasant. This wine is very well balanced, accessible and turned on a fruity style.
91/100
Château Le Bouscat 2016, Haut-Médoc appellation
Ruby appearance, red fruits well surligned with black fruits. Creamy texture on the palate with a fine astringent part. This wine is powerful, characteristic of the Haut-Medoc appellation style, but there is also some fine salinity who gives peps on the traditional blend.
90-91/100
Château Tour Bel Air 2016, Haut-Médoc appellation
Beautiful deepness on the nose. Fine notes of menthol added to the classic blend. Full body, powerful style and creamy texture. Spicy length with some fine vanilla. A nice wine destined to the long aging.
89-90/100
Château Micalet 2016, Haut-Médoc appellation
With a quite vivacity and a nice texture, tannins have a significant part but they are pretty soft. This wine has a powerful part but at the same time there is something delicate, because of the freshness of the fruits, a beautiful blend between red and black fruits. Nice spices on the length.
90-91/100
Château d’Osmond 2016, Haut-Médoc appellation
Starting with a significant vivacity on this wine, tannins are surprisingly soft and well shaped. The length is quite light, but progressively takes power. Beautiful spicy notes, very well balanced on the length. An elegant one !
91/100
Château de Lauga, Haut-Médoc appellation
Full body with a lot of texture. Black fruits, red fruits and spices. This a very powerful wine. On the length this is softer, there is also a lot of freshness. We can imagine the big dimension that this wine could take on the next years. The aging potential is very impressive.
91/100
Château Vieux Gabarey 2016, Haut-Médoc appellation
Very well balanced on the nose as on the palate with a great texture. We start with the fruits and we continue with fine black pepper notes, indicator of the style of barrels. A pretty start followed by a nice tannic part and a soft touch of saltiness. 2016 is a beautiful vintage for this great name of the Haut-Médoc appellation.
91-92/100
Château Grand Brun 2016, Haut-Médoc appellation
With a large density on the texture and a lot of deepness, this wine needs to be decanted. After that it takes its flight. The length is pretty fine. Impressive round on the palate, this wine is definitely for the enthusiasts of this style.
88-89/100
Château Bejac Romelys 2016, Médoc appellation
Nice expression of the fruits, as on the nose, as on the palate. Great balance of red fruits, black fruits and spices. You can enjoy this wine now, it is very accessible.
88-89/100
Château de Coudot 2016, Haut-Médoc appellation
This wine needs time to open itself, but the texture is pretty nice. There is deepness, it is structured and the tannins are well shaped. Thats is good sign for the potential ageing. This wine is representative of the Haut-Médoc appellation.
87-88/100
Château Dacher de Delmonte 2016, Listrac appellation
There is a lot of power on this wine and yet, we can also feel some finesse. From a very vive start, the tension slowly decreases. This is balanced, and the length is very good with a a good dryness feeling. A complex wine, with a large, but beautiful, part of the tannins. Nice potential of ageing.
91/100
Château Lagorce Bernadas 2016, Moulis appellation
Very nice nose, complex, with red fruits, black fruits and an impressive bread toasted part. Nice part of the fruits on the palate, gourmand and fresh. Texture offers some finesse. A very nice wine where you can feel the good choices of the winemaker. Great potential.
92-93/100
Château Moutte Blanc 2016, Margaux appellation
A pretty complex, deep and strong wine. Some notes of menthol are also perceptible. Nice texture, elegant, with notes of black fruits, red fruits and spices. There is also a strong part of vanilla on this wine. If you like this style you can enjoy it now, otherwise just wait few years for a better integration.
91/100
Clos de Bigos 2016, Margaux appellation
Great deepness from the first nose. Beautiful perfume, floral, who is lovely balanced with black and red fruits. On the palate, fruits are well represented and the texture has a good quality. Tannins are elegant. We can feel a lovely sensation of elegance rising with this wine. The length is also very qualitative and long. A very beautiful wine, who needs to be decanted now, but could quickly open and reveal itself.
93-94/100
Château des Graviers 2016,Margaux appellation
Lovely texture with a great finesse. Beauty and freshness of the red fruits. When you taste this wine the first feeling is « pure ». Very nice balance on the palate, the blend between black and red fruits is very well chosen. The start of this wine is relaxing because of the freshness of the fruits. Tannins are very soft and well shaped. The length has a great perfume. This is a great quality wine. A success !
94-95/100
Château Les Barraillots 2016, Margaux appellation
There is some smoky notes who are pretty well integrated to the black and red fruits. After aeration, some dried herbaceous notes, nearly of menthol, appear. Nice texture on the palate, with a strong style but at the same time some delicacy. It is dynamic on the palate and red fruits are dominant. Middle intensity on the length with a small touch of smoke who adds complexity.
90-91/100
Château Marceline 2016, Saint-Estephe appellation
This wine plays with our feelings. Sometimes accessible, sometimes more on the reserve. On the palate texture is really pleasant with a spice part who takes just a little bit the dominance on the fruits. But this wine stays well structured with a good finesse. A good one, enjoyable now and with potential.
91/100
Château Graves de Pez 2016, Saint-Estephe appellation
The style of this wine is dedicated for the fruits. Nice blend of red and black fruits. There is also some saltiness. This wine has an accessible and distinguish style. On the palate we can enjoy the work about the texture. The balance between tannins and fruits, who have an excellent maturity, are very qualitative. A very good wine from Saint-Estephe, dynamic and fresh, enjoyable now but also with potential.
91-92/100
Château Linot 2016, Saint-Estephe appellation
Pronounced intensity on spicy and toasted notes. Nice on the palate, balanced and already accessible. The spicy notes gradually rise in a structured and complex finish. Good potential. Would be a great food pairing with the famous dish « Grenier Médocain ».
90/100
Château La Fleur Lauga 2016, Saint-Julien appellation
Deep notes of blacks fruit and spices. Deepness increases with aeration. The palate is very pleasant, balanced between fruits, spices and a beautiful creamy texture. Some notes of vanilla take a slight step in the middle of the mouth but the whole remains consistent. Finish is quite long. Could be enjoyable now but give it one or two years, time for these vanilla notes to fit better, could be the best option. The delicacy of the tannins is to be underlined in this very well made wine.
93-94/100
Thank you !
Thanks for this tasting to Maxime SAINT-MARTIN, président of the Médoc Crus Artisans. Catherine DI-COSTANZO, Loïc SIRI and all the winemakers from Médoc. Good job and enjoy the Crus Artisans for a long time !
Xavier LACOMBE
Nb: All these notes can be use only by the Crus mentioned and for their personal use. For another use, especially the commercial platforms, thanks to contact me.
