Château d'Armailhac 2004

The 2004 vintage in Pauillac

Vintage benchmark: 88/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: High yields and a dry September gave a classic, unexaggerated vintage, straightforward, now at its peak.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pauillac. 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

Beautiful color, dense and deep with purple reflections. The nose, still a little reserved, opens up with aeration to reveal small touches of blackcurrant, blackberry and fresh red fruits mixed with notes of cedar. The attack is round, with well-rounded tannins which develop with good amplitude on a mid-palate concentrated on the fruit. Nice aromatic support in an expressive and fleshy finish providing a nice general balance.

Blend of the 2004 vintage

Figures from the 2004 sheet

• 13 % vol.Alcohol
• 26 hl/haYield
• 43 yrsVine age
• 216,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

In stainless steel vats, vatting time 15 to 20 days.

Ageing

In oak barrels (25% new) for 15 to 16 months.

Food pairings

Fish and Shellfish: Fish cooked in red wine. Meats: Leg of lamb par excellence but also rare red meats, wild game, porcini mushrooms. Cheeses: All cheeses.

Terroir

Château d'Armailhac lies in the northern part of the commune of Pauillac. It has 69 hectares of vines. Château d'Armailhac is made up of three groups of parcels: the Levantines and Obélisque plateau (26 hectares), an extension of the celebrated Carruades plateau of Mouton, made up of light and very deep gravel, the terroir of choice for the Cabernets; the Pibran plateau (19 hectares), whose gravel rests on a partly clay-limestone subsoil, hence the finesse and elegance characteristic of the wines of Château d'Armailhac; and the Béhéré gravel rise (5 hectares), of light gravel which can nonetheless run down to 3 metres deep.