Château d'Agassac 2011

Critic scores

• Decanter93
• Wine Enthusiast90

The 2011 vintage in Haut-Médoc

Vintage benchmark: 87/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A scorching spring followed by a wet August turned the seasons upside down: classic wines, shorter but true to type.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Haut-Médoc. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

A wine of a very fine, intense garnet red with brilliance. Held to the light, one senses purple and violet highlights. The brilliance is incomparable. The powerful, harmonious nose delivers, right away, toasted notes mingling with mocha and Tonka bean, wrapped in a delicate vanilla-tinged oak. The whole is supported by more spiced aromas, with distinct notes of clove and cracked pepper. As it opens, the aromatic dominant is defined against a backdrop of minerality, with notes of graphite emerging, supported by nuances of bitter cocoa and licorice. After a few minutes of oxygenation, the aromatic structure of the nose intensifies, and in successive waves more empyreumatic notes of sandalwood and sweet spice (cinnamon) appear. The palate: it is endowed with very silky tannins that envelop a delicate, supple texture with no excess of oak. The texture of this smooth, generous wine builds as the tasting progresses.

Blend of the 2011 vintage

Winemaking

23 temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, maceration of 3 to 4 weeks.

Ageing

12 months, 60% in new barrels and 40% in tank.

Terroir

The estate's two great assets lie in the quality of its terroir and in its precious capital of old vines. The terroir, with its warm, well-drained deep gravel soils and its exposure to the sun, is marked by a very early-ripening character, and Agassac is often the first to harvest in the region. The vineyard, made up of two walled blocks totalling 42 hectares, consists mainly of old vines — 40 years old on average across 22 hectares — which form the qualitative heart of production. Since 1997 the picture has been reshaped by grubbing up certain less worthy parcels and by planting Cabernet on the finest gravel soils, until then unplanted.