ARMAILHAC° 2021

The 2021 Château D'Armailhac is terrific and, like all the releases under the Mouton-Rothschild umbrella, it has terrific depth of fruit and impressive richness. Ripe cassis, smoky tobacco, graphite, and ample minerality all emerge from this medium-bodied, beautifully balanced 2021. It plays in the fresher style of the vintage yet has a great mid-palate, good concentration, and a great finish. It will shine with just 2-3 years of bottle age and cruise for 15+ years in cold cellars.

The 2021 d'Armailhac, aged in 50% new oak, is the first vintage to be vinified in the new winery, which was completed a month before the harvest. It has quite a strict bouquet, tight and focused, with broody dark berry fruit, pencil box and tar, quite classic in style. The palate is harmonious and smooth with fine tannins, just the right amount of acidity and a sapid finish that lingers in the mouth. Residual graphite notes linger after the wine has exited. Very fine. (13.0% alcohol)

This fresh and vivid red shows mineral and lead-pencil notes with currants and berries. Some dried flowers. Medium body. Fine tannins and a lively finish. Crisp from bright acidity. Needs one or two years to soften slightly.

The 2021 d'Armailhac has turned out beautifully, bursting with attractive aromas of minty cassis and blackberries mingled with notions of pencil shavings and sweet pipe tobacco. Medium to full-bodied, ample and polished, it's supple and seamless, with a fleshy core of fruit and a licorice-inflected finish. En primeur, I compared this to a modern-day version of the estate's immensely charming 1999, and anyone who remembers the 1999 will find that the 2021 delivers just as wide a drinking window.