Chateau Les Grandes Murailles 2016

Plenty of oak, high extract, with a somewhat abrupt and slightly dry finish.

Streamlined and focused, featuring a beautiful beam of cassis and cherry purée blazing through, while light anise, chalky minerality and floral notes fill in underneath. Fresh, driven and pure through the finish, with an alluring whiff of incense at the very end. Drink now through 2035. 542 cases made.

Coffee, tobacco, dark chocolate and liquorice with a touch of toasty caramel aromas. Juicy and plump, with fresh strawberry and red berry fruit. Fresh acidity lifts the palate and mineral salinity rounds out the finish.

Serious St.-Emilion! Cool and delicate nose, then crisp and dry on the palate with good structure, the finish long, very energetic and uplifting. A great food-wine! Drink or hold.

The 2016 Les Grandes Murailles is quite deep, dark and concentrated, which is surprising for this wine, which is usually more refined. The oaky, unctuous style doesn’t seem to work particularly well here.

Fresh, fruity and juicy, the wine is vibrant, serving up a mélange of red fruits, licorice and griotte cherry. The wine is bright, medium to full-bodied, soft, long and complex, with a lively, fresh finish filled with licorice and cherry.

spicy nose, ripe dark fruit, cassis, plum, cherry, dense palate with fine toast underneath, bold and long finish.

Deep purple with a violet rim. Intense forest berries, backed by toasted notes and chocolate pralines on the open nose. On the powerful palate, noticeably ripe tannins provide perfect grip and thus length. With its elegant freshness, it remains focused and finishes on blackberry and elderberry in an aromatic finale.

Kunz barrel sample 17: sweet, velvety, fresh bouquet, blackberries, cherries, mocha, caramel. Powerful, aromatic palate with plenty of good tannins, dense fruit, dark aromatics, muscular structure, long, bitter finish.

Sweet, velvety, fresh bouquet of blackberries, cherries, mocha, caramel. Powerful, aromatic palate with plenty of fine tannins, dense fruit, dark aromatics, muscular structure, long, bitter finish. 17/20 2024 - 2036

Strongly marked by oak, the 2016 fortunately has a veined, robust substance that allows it to withstand the still tentative élevage. It is set for long aging, but a lovely floral and licorice-driven tension already gives it character.

Purplish violet. Intense, complex bouquet combining mineral and fruity notes. Subtle hints of cherry, blueberry, and chalk. An elegant, refreshing entry on the palate. The wine shines for its ability to balance suppleness with pronounced tension. The latter is imposing and supports the aromatic expression, while the tannins try to find their place in the face of this vibrant energy. In the finish, the wine is brilliant from many angles. It has a bright future and ranks among the great successes of the Right Bank in 2016. Bravo. I had initially rated this wine 96—already excellent—but it has become even more sublime!

The best ever made! Dark color, intense, beautiful and bright. Moderately aromatic nose, with ripe, fresh fruit. Delicate on the attack, finely fleshy as it develops, perfumed and full at mid-palate, the wine caresses right through to the finish. It ends with fine vanilla notes, fruity, long, and with no hard edges.