CHÂTEAU DUHART MILON ROTHSCHILD

2017 4ème Cru Classé Pauillac

EN PRIMEUR

76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot. Plenty of gravel intertwined with creamy oak on the nose. The palate is met by creamy rich fruit. Quite round with little grippy tannins and plenty of fresh acidity. Well balanced. Rating: 90 L&S (Apr 2018)

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76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot 'Harmonious and very classic', says technical director Eric Kohler. Deep greyish crimson. Delicately sweet ripe fruit but with the graphite savour of the vintage and all the good Cabernet. Tannins are fine-grained but the overall effect is a rather flat mid palate, not hollow but no very lively. Smooth but somehow lacking vitality on the mid palate. Persistent, still. Drinking range: 2025 - 2037 Rating: 16.5 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2018)

A blend of 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot, the 2017 Duhart-Milon is beautifully scented of crushed red and black currants, black raspberries and spice cake with suggestions of lavender, cloves and rose hip tea. The palate is medium-bodied, very soft and elegant with seamless freshness and a lingering spiciness on the finish. Rating: 89-91 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2018)

A brilliantly elegant, suave Duhart, one of the successes of the appellation for me. This is a classically structured Duhart, a wine that is not overly exuberant but that has a sense of direction and balance, and is well held together. There's a very attractive quality to the tannins, joined by dark bilberry fruits that gain weight through the palate. It doesn't quite have the dense concentration and richness of 2016, but that was an exceptional vintage. This is a wine that I look forward to following as it ages. Around 5% frost on the northwest corner, affecting the Merlot for the second wine (not tasted). But overall the vintage was so early that even though the September rains probably brought alcohol levels down a touch, they did not unduly worry as the fruit was already ripe enough. 3.75pH. 50% new oak. 38hl/ha yield. Drinking range: 2026 - 2038 Rating: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter (Apr 2018)

The 2017 Château Duhart Milon is an excellent effort from this team and is one of the more forward, charming, pleasure-bent efforts out there. Leafy herbs, lead pencil, graphite, and beautiful fruit all give way to a medium-bodied, fruit forward, textured 2017 that’s going to drink nicely in its youth, yet should also age gracefully. Rating: 89-91 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (Apr 2018)

Very pretty chocolate and dark-berry character with a medium to full body, soft and silky tannins and a fresh finish. Balanced and refined. Rating: 90-91 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2018)

The picking at Duhart-Milon kicked off on September 13th for the Merlot, finishing on the 19th. There then followed a few days rest after which the Cabernet Sauvignon was picked, beginning on September 22nd, finishing on the 29th. Here in the grand vin the blend is 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Merlot, a strong showing for the former variety, higher than it has been for many years, certainly higher than it was in 2016 or 2015. This has a very elegant and refined character to the nose, which presents an array of grilled red cherry with nuances of praline and toast, but also a little rose petal and cherry blossom perfume. There follows a very supple style to the palate, showing freshly delineated fruit but with a lightly degraded and grilled edge to the definition, very supple and silky, with lightly grained tannins and an elegant, reposed sense of freshness. Overall this has a rather relaxed and clearly quite understated style, which culminates in a quite pretty finish with a fine sense of harmony. Rating: 91-93 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2018)

Pauillac Quatrième cru 1855 Château Duhart Milon is owned by its very illustrious neighbour Château Lafite-Rothschild, with whom it shares a vineyard management and wine making team. Duhart is said to have been a pirate in the service of Loius XV who settled in the Médoc in his retirement. Indeed, the "pirate's house" stood by the Gironde until the 1950's and is pictured on the label. His vineyard was united with Mandavy-Milon in the 1830's by the Castéja family. Earning 4th Growth status was a high point for Duhart-Milon with the next 100+ years being a period of some decline. Vineyards were sold off (notably to the Batailleys) and the wines declined considerably in quality. By the time Baron Eric de Rothschild bought Duhart-Milon in 1962 it was in a very sorry state with barely 17ha under vine. Rothschild ownership saw the vineyards completely re-planted and the chais (and a chais is all there is, there never has been an actual château) renovated. Today the wines are made with the same meticulous care as Lafite, but sell at a fraction of the price, making Duhart-Milon a bit of a bargain. Château Duhart-Milon sits immediately west/inland of Château Lafite-Rothschild, facing Château Lafon-Rochet across the Jalle du Breuil in Saint Estèphe. The 73ha of vineyard are planted with 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Merlot. The Grand Vin is aged in oak barrels made by the Rothschild cooperage for up to 18 months. The second wine is called Moulin de Duhart, and a lighter styled third wine called Baron de Milon.

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