2016 d'Armailhac
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Tasting notes
The 2016 d'Armailhac has a delightful nose, black fruit mixed with cedar and touches of brown spice. Fine delineation. The palate is medium-bodied, with firm tannins, grippy, a little tight towards the finish, but there is a sense of energy here. It does not match the bottle 12 months ago, but the potential is here. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting.
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Wine Spectator
More reviews and scores
Tasted blind. First bottle: Spicy purple fruit on the nose. Quite pure and bone dry. With well-managed tannins. Uncompromising but pure in its intent . Second bottle had much more fruit in the middle. (JR)
A thrilling bottle of wine that readers should snatch up is the 2016 Château d’Armailhac. This deeply colored, medium to full-bodied, powerful Armailhac gives up a lovely perfume of blackberry and plums fruits, violets, graphite, cedar pencil, and earthy, herbal nuances. Classic, ripe, layered, and just a beautiful Pauillac any way you look at it, it has plenty of upfront sex appeal but is going to keep for 20-25 years as well. Bravo! The 2016 is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot.
The 2016 d’Armailhac, which was bottled in May 2018, has an elegant bouquet that unfolds in the glass, offering blackberries, briar and a touch of cedar and mint. The palate is medium-bodied with dense tannin, grippy in the mouth, and quite voluminous, with perhaps more density on the solid, almost broad-shouldered finish compared to the Clerc-Milon. This fulfills all my expectations from my barrel tasting and is quite simply one of the best d’Armailhac wines ever made.
About the producer
Ch. d’Armailhac is a Pauillac Fifth Growth owned by the Rothschilds, who also own Ch. Mouton Rothschild. Lavished with the same attention to detail and having benefitted from extensive investment in recent years, this estate can offer brilliant value in comparison to its First Growth sibling.