Château d'Armailhac 2014

Critic scores

• James Suckling93
• Vinous93
• Wine Enthusiast92
• Wine Spectator91

The 2014 vintage in Pauillac

Vintage benchmark: 90/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: A gloomy summer redeemed by an Indian summer: the cabernets are radiant and the freshness is true to the Médoc.

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

The colour is deep and dense. The highly refined nose exudes wild blackberry liqueur and cherry aromas, rounded off by subtle notes of liquorice and spice. The attack shows fine balance and the tannins are well-structured, enfolded in a richly smooth body with jammy fruit flavours. The finish reveals a wine full of promise, associated with an initial impetus from the fruit which gives it excellent length.

Blend of the 2014 vintage

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.