2017 Monbousquet
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Tasting notes
Tasted blind. Deep ruby colour. Mint and hoisin on an exotic and unique nose. Tarry, with mouth-coating and excessive wood tannin. Extracted and overdone. Pinched finish. This is unfortunately a throwback to the over-extracted wines of the past. (TP)
Critic scores
Average Score
James Suckling
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
The 2017 Monbousquet has turned out beautifully. Rich, ample and generous on the palate, it possesses striking depth from start to finish. A rush of blackberry jam, lavender, spice, menthol and smoke builds into the voluptuous finish. Yields are down a whopping 50%, but the wine that was made is just gorgeous.
This vineyard was significantly hit by frost, but I was told there was no use of second-generation fruit. Composed of 60% Merlot, 30% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, the medium to deep garnet-purple colored 2017 Monbousquet gives up notes of crushed blackberries, black raspberries and kirsch with touches of black truffles, Marmite toast and tapenade. Medium-bodied, the palate has a firm structure of grainy tannins and just enough freshness to support the earthy, muscular fruit, finishing on a mineral note.
The 2017 Monbousquet has quite an intense bouquet with raspberry, wild strawberry and just a slight metallic note that recedes with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, quite cohesive with blackberry and raspberry laced with graphite towards the finish that just needs to manifest a little more charm and comeliness. It is just a bit hard at the moment but bottle age will address that issue.