Ranking with the finest vintages of this wine to date, the 2016 Château Duhart Milon shows how successful the Médoc was in 2016. About as pure class as it gets, with full-bodied notes of red and black currants, tobacco leaf, graphite, and leafy herbs, this beauty hits the palate with sweet tannins, a stacked mid-palate, and a layered, deep, powerful texture. It’s about as sexy as Pauillac can be and has 2-3 decades ahead of it.

This is very vivid, with racy violet, cassis and plum aromas and flavors coursing through, laced with a mouthwatering anise note and leading to a long, focused finish. Displays a terrific iron underpinning. Best from 2024 through 2038.

The 2016 Duhart-Milon is an attractive midweight wine. Floral aromatics and soft, silky tannins give the wine its gracious personality. Dark cherry, plum, lavender and new leather all develop in the glass, but above all else, the 2016 is a gentle, subtle Pauillac that shows the more understated side of the year. I imagine it will drink well pretty much right out of the gate. Today, the Duhart is perhaps just a touch narrow in its construction. It will be interesting to see if it fleshes out a bit more during its aging.

Blended of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Merlot, the 2016 Duhart-Milon has a deep garnet-purple color and features plums preserves, wild blueberries and cassis scents with touches of violets and underbrush with a waft of tobacco. Medium-bodied and elegant, with a backbone of finely grained tannins and oodles of freshness, it has a great core of perfumed black fruit, finishing on an earthy note.