Château d'Armailhac 2007

The 2007 vintage in Pauillac

Vintage benchmark: 83/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A cool, wet summer demanded strict selection: light, delicious wines, to be drunk young.

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

With a beautiful deep garnet color with brilliant reflections, Château d'Armailhac reveals, on the nose, beautiful freshness, delicate and fragrant fruits and powerful tannins. The red fruits burst and mingle with floral aromas and cloves. The elegant and discreet oak character reveals some roasted notes. On the palate, Château d'Armailhac 2007 offers a velvety structure, with opulent Cabernet Sauvignons, flavors of very ripe blackcurrant complemented by notes of liquorice and vanilla. The tannins are silky, coated but tight and express the Pauillac terroir well. The finish is long and elegant

Blend of the 2007 vintage

Figures from the 2007 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.