CHÂTEAU MOULIN HAUT LAROQUE

2017 Fronsac

EN PRIMEUR

The 2017 Moulin Haut-Laroque offers a floral bouquet, rose petal scents infusing the wild strawberry and crushed raspberry aromas, a little vanilla emerging later on. The palate is medium-bodied with plush tannin, good depth if just missing some tension towards the finish. It starts well but just loses a bit of quality towards the finish. Drinking range: 2021 - 2030 Rating: 87-89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2018)

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The 2017 Haut-Laroque has a clean and fresh bouquet with perfumed blackberry and bilberry scents, a pleasant mineralité tucked in just underneath. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, quite light in style for a Fronsac but well balanced with a soft, easy-going but clean finish that suggests it will drink well for four or five years. Drinking range: 2021 - 2034 Rating: 88-90 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2018)

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2017 Moulin Haut-Laroque opens with blackberry preserves and black plums notions with hints of Sichuan pepper and yeast extract. The palate is medium-bodied with a well-sustained mid-palate and nicely balanced frame, finishing on a savory note. Rating: 87-89 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2018)

Lots of spice, graphite, and assorted red and black fruits define the 2017 Château Moulin Haut Laroque. It’s medium-bodied, has nicely integrated acidity, and solid mid-palate depth, which isn’t a given in the vintage. It should benefit from a year or two in bottle and keep through 2027. Rating: 88-90 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (Apr 2018)

This was picked between October 5th and 17th, later than many other domaines, and this doesn’t seem to have done the wine any harm at all. I find a very pure expression of fruit on the nose, one that seems to combine definition with concentration, the fruit a perfumed plum, ripe and rich, but pure and fresh. This comes through on the palate, which shows wonderfully generous substance, supple and gently creamed, with a soft underbelly of ripe, lightly grained tannins and correct acidity. This is long, structured, poised and correct, with a lingering and grippy finish. This is one of the more impressive wines, from off the beaten right-bank track. Rating: 93-95 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2018)