Chateau La Mondotte 2016

JEB DUNNUCK: "Not far off the magical 2015, the 2016 La Mondotte comes from a tiny vineyard of clay and limestone soil located next to Pavie Decesse. A blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, this behemoth boasts a deep purple color as well as a brilliant array of crème de cassis, blackcurrants, crushed rocks, and graphite. Full-bodied and beautifully concentrated, with liquid minerality emerging with time in the glass, this legendary Saint-Emilion in the making needs 5-7 years of bottle age and will keep for 3-4 decades."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "This just keeps on getting better, adding additional layers of fruit, levels of complexity and sensuality to the texture. Full-bodied, intense, rich and deep, with a strong sense of minerality, give this 12-15 years in the cellar before you pop a cork."

JAMES SUCKLING: "So much black truffle and blueberry on the nose. Decadent and aromatic. Wet soil. Indian ink. Full-bodied, polished and so velvety with fantastic depth of fruit and ripe tannins, yet powerful and fresh. Slightly minerally and salty underneath."

WEINWISSER: " Tiefes Purpur mit schwarzer Mitte und violettem Rand. Konzentriertes Bouquet mit Weichselkirsche, Himbeermark und Veilchen, dahinter Heidelbeeren und Cassisdrops. Am sehr eleganten Gaumen mit viel Frische und Brombeerblüten sowie Schlehensaft – ein Formel 1-Bolide mit purer Finesse, der die Wertung dieses Jahr zu Recht verdient! Die 65-jährigen Reben machen den Unterschied – sie trotzten den schwierigen Wetterverhältnissen und haben einen niedrigen pH-Wert!"

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, fester Kern, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung, Schwarzkirsche. Satte Dichte am Gaumen, linear, stoffig zupackend, eindringlich Kalk-mineralisch. Am Gaumen mit Respekt gebietender Körnigkeit, die mineralisch gekoppelt ist. Das körnige Tannin überdeckt die Viskosität und umgekehrt. Noch kompakt und nahezu unscheinbar, wird gigantisch reifen."

WINE ENTHUSIAST: "Made by the winemaking team of Canon la Gaffelière, this wine is stylishly elegant, restrained in its structure and tannins. Its intensely juicy character is already attractive, giving the wine almost a refreshing character. This balanced wine will be ready from 2025."

WINE SPECTATOR: "This shows a dark, toasty style at first, with notes of ganache and plum reduction, but it unwinds steadily and slowly, revealing pure cassis, cherry and raspberry fruit flavors gilded liberally with violet and anise accents. The long finish is laced with a superfine chalky minerality that imparts mouthwatering cut even as the fruit gains steam. Best from 2023 through 2038."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2016 La Mondotte is a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc this year, picked between 29 September and 15 October and matured in 70% new oak. The alcohol level is around 14.5%. It has a lucid purple hue in the glass. The bouquet is very perfumed, very pure with luscious red cherries, blueberry and a hint of sloes, the new oak discrete and allowing the terroir to shine through perhaps more than the 2015 last year. The palate is silky smooth on the entry, but underneath the bonnet, there is considerable tannic backbone that certainly can be felt more towards the finish that exerts a light grip. In a strange way, it reminds me a little of Château Canon! Give this 4-5 years once in bottle."