CHÂTEAU LA DAUPHINE
2017 Fronsac
Tasted at the Grand Circle in London and during primeurs week. Showing better 'in situ' which perhaps isn't a surprise. Quite a cool, concentrated dark fruit nose. The palate is thick with creamy plum and black cherry. There's just a hint of graphite and pepper but it's quickly enveloped by a tide of firm, grippy tannin. This could end up being another impressively rich and decadent Fronsac but it all needs to settle down a bit. This will probably need quite a bit of time before it's at its peak. Drinking range: 2024 - 2030 Rating: 87-89 L&S (Apr 2018)
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The 2017 La Dauphine has a well-defined, focused, well-mannered bouquet with concentrated blackberry, raspberry preserve and graphite aromas. The palate is well balanced with grippy tannin, not as sensual as the nascent Dalem and with more expressive, peppery Cabernet Franc driving the finish. It will be fascinating to see how this ages. Drinking range: 2021 - 2035 Rating: 89-91 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2018)
The deep garnet-purple colored 2017 de la Dauphine opens with black cherries and warm blackberries notes with wafts of Indian spices and dusty soil. The palate is medium-bodied, firm and chewy with a lively line and long earthy finish. Rating: 88-90 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2018)
The deep inky colored 2017 Château De La Dauphine offers a medium-bodied, rounded, textured style. Sweet black cherries, plums, violets, and spice characteristics all emerge from the glass, and it offers more texture and hedonistic pleasure than most in the vintage. Rating: 87-89 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (Apr 2018)
90% Merlot. 10% Cabernet Franc. Deep purplish crimson. Ripe and lifted black cherry and cassis fruit with a hint of coffee. Firm, chewy and quite oaky on the palate but I hope it will all come round with more time in bottle. Drinking range: 2024 - 2030 Rating: 16 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2018)
Shows some depth and character with a medium body, firm and silky tannins and a medium to short finish. Rating: 87-88 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2018)
The fruit was picked from September 14th until the 30th, and the yield was 33 hl/ha. I find a real finesse on the nose here, with tightly defined blackcurrant fruits rubbed over limestone, and a wonderful sense of terroir to it. This comes across on the palate, the quite tightly defined aromatics opening out here into a slightly darker style, with more soot and cocoa bean nuances, ripe and sinewy, with great substance and structure. A very impressive composition, with a broad but tense fruit core supported by imposing but ripe and correct tannins. A seriously impressive La Dauphine this year, from an estate on the up I think. 92-94/100 Rating: 92-94 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2018)