Clos de l'Oratoire 2009

This is very suave, with mocha and smoldering tobacco flavors laced with fig, plum and blackberry notes. A flash of sweet tapenade and iron helps extend the finish, which has lovely latent minerality. This shows great restraint, considering its power of fruit. Best from 2015 through 2027.-J.M.

Round, ripe, supple, gourmand. Concentrated, confit note. Hail reduced yields to 20hl/ha. Drink 2014-2024.

The 2009 Clos de l'Oratoire, a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc that achieved 13.5% natural alcohol, exhibits an inky/ruby/purple color along with a big, sweet nose of incense, blackberries, blueberries, cedar, and spice box. Rich, opulent, and full-bodied, this offering is a complete turn-on that should provide enormous pleasure over the next 10-15 years. (Tasted four times.) Drink 2010-2025.Stefan von Neipperg's 25-acre St.-Emilion estate (planted in clay and limestone) had slight hail damage, which resulted in somewhat smaller yields (28 hectoliters per hectare).

Tasted at Canon-la-Gaffeliere, cropped at just 20hl/ha between 7th and 12th October, a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, this has an opulent bouquet with pure black cherries, black plum, a touch of wet sand and a hint of cooked meat. The palate is medium-bodied with creamy new oak, quite plush, modern, but very seductive with a hint of savoury fruit, perhaps even a touch of dried salami towards the finish that adds another level of intrigue. Very fine. Tasted March 2010.