2018 Château du Retout

Full bottle 1,305 g. Cru bourgeois supérieur. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28.5% Merlot and 11.5% Petit Verdot picked 24 September – 17 October with no sulphur addition before a cold pre-fermentation maceration at 4°C for six to 10 days under blanket gas. Slow fermentation at temperatures below 26°C with two or three rack and return operations by gravity a day. Maceration on skins for 10 to 21 days at 28°C. The average period in vats was 21 to 32 days. Final blending took place early, at the end of November, and then the wine was put in barrels (33% new) in mid-December to age for a further 12 months. This Cussac-Fort-Médoc cru bourgeois also makes an interesting white with varieties such as Savagnin and Mondeuse Blanche. First bottle had TCA. Second bottle: the cork plunged into the bottleneck under pressure from the corkscrew, so beware! Healthy mid crimson. Well-mannered ripe fruit on the nose. The early dryness has mellowed so that it's a pretty good drink now, with fruit, acid and just-receding tannin in harmony. But solid rather than outstanding. (JR)