Château d'Armailhac 2017

Critic scores

• James Suckling94
• Wine Spectator94
• Wine Advocate92
• Jeb Dunnuck92
• Wine Enthusiast92
• Vinous91

The 2017 vintage in Pauillac

Vintage benchmark: 85/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: April frost cut the crop in half: the plots that were spared give fine, classic wines, and the vintage must be judged estate by estate.

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 wine is garnet red with a crimson tint. The generous and expansive nose opens on aromas of fresh, juicy, creamy fruit, then with airing reveals bilberry notes set off by intense touches of pepper, liquorice and vanilla, giving the wine an enticing feel. The dense and full-bodied attack extends into the mid-palate, imparting an appealing impression of harmonious sweetness. Nascent oak emerges on smooth and well-structured tannins, accompanied by flavours reminiscent of the nose. The initial intensity of the fresh fruit flavours extends into the long and persistent finish.

Blend of the 2017 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.