Tertre Rôteboeuf 2018

The 2018 Tertre Rôteboeuf, which I never tasted from barrel, has a typical bouquet of red fruit, dark chocolate, clove and hints of game and mint. Strangely, it reminds me of recent releases from La Rioja Alta, and I mean that in a good way. The palate is sweet on the entry and deftly disguises its 16° alcohol. It is well balanced with fine acidity and touches of sour cherry and tobacco on the finish. A hedonistic wine, but as is so often the case apropos of François Mitjavile’s château, it is brilliantly disguised. 2024 - 2040

Tasted blind. Luscious, sweet, verging on liquorice-coated rose petals. Big and apparently soft and hugely distinctive. More intense than most. Love/hate wine! 15%Drink 2025 – 2045

Barrel sample. Very dark crimson. Intense red fruits and also intensely toasty/oaky, as this wine so often is en primeur. The fruit is concentrated and sweet but not overripe, the tannins deep and densely silky. At the moment the oak and the concentration give a very slight bitterness on the finish but I think this will disappear as the oak recedes and the lovely fruit emerges. (I tasted the 2017 straight after this and although it is still oaky, the fruit is becoming more obviously the core of the wine.) Just fresh enough, if not quite as fresh as in some vintages.Drink 2025-2036

The 2018 Tertre Roteboeuf is another powerful, opulent wine from this estate that reminds me a little of the 2005 with its density and tannic structure. Cassis, graphite, black raspberries, and tons of classy oak all emerge from this full-bodied beauty that has tons of fruit and texture, a stacked mid-palate, and a big finish. It’s a massive, sumptuous, and lavishly oaked and fruited wine that’s going to benefit from 3-5 years of bottle age and keep for 25-30 years.