Château Duhart-Milon 2014

Critic scores

• James Suckling93
• Vinous93
• Wine Enthusiast93
• Wine Spectator90

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

Beautiful dark red color. Discreet nose, but presenting a nice depth and already complexity. The oak character is well blended behind the characteristic notes of fresh red fruits, dominated by blackcurrant. On the palate, the attack is frank and dense and the wine takes on a good amplitude. The fruitiness persists well. The whole thing is already harmonious. The length is good and the wine asserts its elegant and fresh style. The tannins, although still young, are silky. This wine will open up in 4 to 5 years, and should reach its peak between 2020 and 2030.

Blend of the 2014 vintage

Figures from the 2014 sheet

• 260,000 bottlesProduction

Winemaking

After destemming and light crushing, the vatting of Duhart-Milon lasts 28 days. The winemaking, entirely traditional, is carried out with great care by the team of Charles Chevallier, the Director of Château Lafite.

Ageing

12-14 months at 50% new oak and 50% 1st year Lafite barrels.

Terroir

The vineyard of Château Duhart-Milon lies almost as a single block on the western side of Château Lafite Rothschild, on the Milon slope that extends the Carruades plateau of Lafite. The Château Duhart-Milon estate comprises 76 ha of vines. The soils are fine gravels mixed with aeolian sands over a subsoil of Tertiary limestone. Strict control of yields, hand harvesting and a great deal of work carried out by hand throughout the year.