Chateau Charmail 2009

92 JAMES SUCKLING: "Lots of blueberries and flowers on the nose. Full body, with very chewy tannins and a citrus undertone with the berry. Structured and racy. Better in 2016."

90 THE WINEADVOCATE: "This is another over-achieving estate that tends to produce wines with lots of intensity and structure. This wine certainly has the formidable intensity one expects from Charmail, but the tannins are silky smooth and the result is the sexiest Charmail to date. An opulent, even voluptuously textured wine, full-bodied and dense purple in color, it is a seductive blend of 47% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered and came in with natural alcohols of 14%. The low acidity, plush fruit and silky tannins all suggest drinking this over the next decade. It is another sleeper of the vintage, of which there is nearly an endless supply in this great year."

Drink: 2012 - 2022 - Robert M. Parker, Jr.

90 ANTONIO GALLONI: "Medium red-ruby. Sexy aromas of black raspberry, coffee, menthol and flowers. Chewy, dense and plush; ripe but not overripe. Dark berry, espresso and menthol flavors are framed by sweet oak and ripe chocolatey tannins. A superb performance for this chateau: generous, deep and long on the aftertaste."

- Stephen Tanzer - Jul 2012.

17 RENÈ GABRIEL: "Dunkles Granat, recht satt in der Mitte, rubiner Rand. Schönes Cassis- und Brombeerenbouquet, reife Cabernetanzeige. Stoffiger Gaumen, hier jetzt zwischen blauen und schwarzen Beeren wechselnd, massives Extrakt mit Lakritzetouch, wirkt etwas extrahiert, kann aber noch zulegen."