Eisele Vineyard - Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

THE WINE ADVOCATE: THE WINEADVOCATE: Both 2013s are clearly the finest Eisele wines made under the administration of François Pinault and his top lieutenant, Frédéric Engerer, who also runs the show at Château Latour. The utterly compelling 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon in this vintage and 1,800 cases were made. The wine is off-the-charts great, with an opaque bluish/purple color to the rim, an aroma of pen ink, graphite, blackberry and blueberry fruit, a hint of licorice, camphor and incense. The wine is full-bodied, with extraordinary concentration, remarkable equilibrium and noticeable, but sweet, well-integrated tannin. This is a large-scaled Eisele Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, but flawless and with no edges. It is an amazing effort and a great achievement from this incredible terroir. Drink it over the next 30-40 years."

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles opakes Rubingranat. Intensive Edelholzwürze, Nuancen von Zedern und Vanille, mit einem Hauch von Nougat unterlegte schwarze Frucht, Anklänge von Cassis, Heidelbeeren und Lakritze. Kraftvoll, sehr komplex und straff, tragende Tannine, extraktsüßer Fruchtblock am Gaumen, zeigt bereits eine Riesenlänge, großes Zukunftspotenzial."

JAMES SUCKLING: "The aroma of dried rose petals is stunning. Hints of dark fruits too. Intensely perfumed. Full-bodied, deep and condensed with incredible depth and subtlety. Powerful tannins that are hidden under the beautiful fruit. The finish lasts for minutes. Precise and gorgeous. Very tight. Needs four to five years to soften and amalgamate. One of best ever from Araujo? The first wine from grape to bottle from the new owner, Francois Pinault, who also owns Château Latour."

LISA PERROTTI-BROWN: "The 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon reveals an opaque garnet-black color, offering evocative notes of warm cassis, blackberry pie, and licorice, leading to nuances of garrigue, moss-coated tree bark, crushed rocks, and black truffles, plus a touch of fallen leaves. The densely laden, full-bodied palate is jam-packed with rich black fruit layers, supported by a rock-solid structure of grainy tannins and well-knit freshness, finishing long and earthy."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Lovely floral notes – deep violet and forest flowers – and fresh herbs lift from a mix of dark, fresh fruits and crushed black-rock minerality, iron dust and just a hint of spice. The flavours are seamlessly wed to the structure and a core of power that radiates from the wine without effort. The power and amplitude here feels native to the wine rather than from extraction, and the wine offers an impressive balance of concentration with freshness. There is a greater sense of purity throughout here, still with a sense of precision and lovely persistence. The oak presence here is subtle offering a light lift in the presentation of the wine. This wine will not peak for a long time. Nicely done."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Fresh, silky, vibrant and exciting, the wine offers serious levels of concentration with a spine of dark chocolate and lush, juicy, perfectly ripe, blackberries, plums and a hint of blue fruit. Length, purity, complexity and balance in a great style that feels as good as it tastes! What more could you ask for?"

DECANTER: "A deep-pitched bouquet of fresh red-black fruit, deep soil tones and floral top notes introduces a youthfully primary wine with a refined, three-dimensional tannic structure and signature Eisele minerality. The first wine produced 'from berry to bottle' by the Pinault regime is thus a great success, with notably superior barrel integration to some of its predecessors. The vineyard is now front-and-centre: on the label, and in the bottle. Drinking Window 2023 - 2045"

WINE SPECTATOR: "Pure and pleasantly focused, driven by a supple core of dark berry, licorice, sage, underbrush and mineral notes that stand up to the cedary oak. Ends long, deep and persistent, echoing the core flavor themes. Drink now through 2032. 1,600 cases made."