CHÂTEAU ROC DE CAMBES
2017 Côtes de Bourg
Strikingly perfumed dark fruit nose filled with layers of fresh blackberry, forest floor, spice and toasty oak. There is real intrigue and complexity here but it will need time to knit together in bottle. The palate is full of silky tannin and refreshing acidity which lends energy and tension. It almost reverberates across the palate and finishes very long. A beguiling mixture of savoury and sweet elements. This should be excellent from 2023+. Drinking range: 2023 - 2035 Rating: 90-92 L&S (May 2018)
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The 2017 Roc de Cambes is even better from bottle than it was from barrel. Rich, dense and explosive, with tremendous power the 2017 is positively stellar from the very first taste. Macerated dark cherries, sage, spice, star anise, orange zest, mint and new leather give the 2017 an exotic, racy feel that is hard to fully describe. In the glass, the 2017 possesses off the charts aromatic intensity and tons of pure fruit richness, while the 100% new oak is barely perceptible. Readers lucky enough to find it will enjoy a wine of tremendous character and personality. This is an absolutely stunning wine from Francois and Nina Mitjavile. Drinking range: 2022 - 2047 Rating: 94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Mar 2020)
The 2017 Roc de Cambes has a vivid bouquet with ebullient redcurrant and cranberry fruit that "jump" out of the glass, yet the aromatics remain tender and graceful, to use two words uttered by François Mitjavile in describing the vintage. The palate is very well balanced with filigree tannins, dark berry fruit laced with clove and bay leaf, just a hint of tobacco on the aftertaste. Very fine and very classy. Drinking range: 2021 - 2042 Rating: 93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2020)
The 2017 Roc de Cambes, for a long time we considered changing the blend of Roc de Cambes by pulling up the Cabernet, but in the end we kept it the same blend as it is the character of the wine. This is matured in 100% new oak (although it is impossible to tell.) It has a very clean and pure bouquet, perfumed blackberry and bilberry fruit, a touch of seawater in the background. The oak here is nicely integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chalky tannin, notes of mulberry, blackberry, brine and touches of brown spice. Like the Domaine des Cambes there is fine energy in situ and it feels long and full of tension on the classy, quite peppery finish. Drinking range: 2020 - 2035 Rating: 91-93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2018)
The 2017 Roc de Cambes is deep garnet-purple in color with a slightly reticent nose of blackberries, cassis and tar with nuances of pencil shavings, damp soil and dried herbs. The palate is medium-bodied, firm and grainy with great freshness and a long, lively finish. Rating: 90-92 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2018)
Glowing dark crimson. A charry oak aroma is particularly noticeable in this vintage, at this moment in time, on L'Aurage and Tertre Roteboeuf from the same Mitjavile stable. Underneath the oak is dark fruit and silky tannins. Mouth-watering and fresh and I might have marked this down because of that seemingly heavy oak had I not seen how older vintages of this and Tertre Roteboeuf have aged. Drinking range: 2023 - 2033 Rating: 16.5+ Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2018)
This is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, old vines which Louis Mitjavile wonders about replanting, but he thinks the quality of the fruit is too good at the moment to undertake that. There was no frost on this vineyard. The nose is all black fruits, tobacco, olives and dried plums, with a little matchstick note. The palate is broad, fresh, pure and cool, loaded with dark olive and liquorice intensity, and rested on a broad, ripe and polished grip. The palate is dense and concentrated, backward but polished and succulent, the overall style appealing and seductive. For the appellation and the vintage this is excellent. The élevage will be in 100% new oak. Rating: 93-95 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2018)