This Week's Must-Try Wines from Vinous
Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste
Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2014
The 2014 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is one of my favorite wines from the Left Bank in this vintage. Bright and vivacious blackberry, cedar and graphite scents soar from the glass with real purpose. Wonderful delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, quite tensile with ample depth. It has matured since I last tasted it four years ago. It is very fresh and has a saline finish. Recommended. Tasted at the Bordeaux Index 10-Year-On tasting. N.B. Two bottles tasted blind at Southwold showed oxidation on the first. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2024)
— 8 months ago
Château Cheval Blanc
St. Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 2014
The 2014 Cheval Blanc has an attractive nose with brambly red fruit, sous-bois, a pencil box and a touch of Xmas cake. It does not take too much aeration before it develops further aromas of black truffle and morels. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, fleshy, ripe and tensile with red peppercorn hints toward the slightly granular finish. Very harmonious and persistent. It is outstanding in the context of the vintage. Tasted at Bordeaux Index's 10-Year-On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2024)
— 8 months ago
Château Trotanoy
Pomerol Red Bordeaux Blend 2014
The 2014 Trotanoy has a more complex bouquet than the 2014 Gazin, with more Pomerol DNA in the mix, iron-tinged red berry fruit, black truffle and cedar. Fine delineation and quintessentially Pomerol. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins and harmonious, soy-tinged black fruit with white pepper sprinkled over the finish. This has personality and class but needs time (comme d'habitude). One of the standouts in what is an inconsistent Pomerol vintage. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2024)
— 8 months ago
Château Montrose
Saint-Estèphe Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2014
The 2014 Montrose has an engaging and complex bouquet with black fruit, a pencil box, pressed violet and warm earth scents, gaining intensity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with excellent tannins that frame the mineral-rich black fruit (in fact, this is one of the most mineral-laden 2014 Left Banks I tasted.) The oak is seamlessly integrated, and the finish has real panache. Beautifully, and it's just entering its drinking window. Tasted at Bordeaux Index's 10-Year-On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2024)
— 8 months ago
Château Clerc Milon
Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2014
The 2014 Clerc Milon has a vivacious and forward bouquet with cedar and graphite-infused black fruit, violet traces emerging with time, oozing with class. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, graphite once more defining the appellation. It's tensile and almost citrus-fresh on the finish. Plenty of energy is evident in this Pauillac, which should guarantee its longevity. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2024)
— 8 months ago
Château Ausone
Saint Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 2014
The 2014 Ausone has retained that purity, pastille-like red berry fruit on the nose, with touches of clove and bay leaf, perhaps almost Burgundian in terms of its allure. The palate is medium-bodied with fleshy, pliant tannins that manifest its velvety texture. This might be the most seductive of any 2014 Bordeaux, fanning out beautifully towards the almost citrus-fresh finish. Gorgeous. Tasted at Bordeaux Index's 10-Year On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2024)
— 8 months ago
Château Pavie
Saint-Èmilion Grand Cru Red Bordeaux Blend 2014
The 2014 Pavie is one of my preferred vintages of the decade, perhaps because the growing season put a leash on its power. It has a forward and generous nose, but there is clearly as much complexity as the Figeac that precedes it: dark berry fruit, iron filings, cedar and just a hint of tobacco. Quite involving. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, harmonious and pliant, decent acidity with a silky smooth, persistent finish. This has some way to go. Excellent. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2024)
— 8 months ago
Château La Mission Haut-Brion
Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 2014
The 2014 La Mission Haut-Brion offers bright and vivid scents that immediately captivate the olfactory scenes: black fruit, cedar, pencil box and light, minty aromas. It's much better than its First Growth neighbor. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, very harmonious, and has lovely depth with a gentle grip. This is a sophisticated and entrancing 2014, one of my favorites in Bordeaux. Highly recommended. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2024)
— 8 months ago
Domaine de Chevalier
Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 2014
The 2014 Domaine de Chevalier has always been an impressive wine for the vintage. This has a superb bouquet with blackberry, graphite, sea spray and pressed roses, which are very well-defined and classy. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant, fine tannins, a keen line of acidity, fresh with white pepper and allspice towards the harmonious and precise finish. This is a Pessac-Léognan ratcheting through the gears - recommended. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2024)
— 8 months ago
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The 2014 Vieux Château Certan has proven to be a strong performer in recent years, and there has been no change ten years on. Blacker fruit than its peers, plenty of black truffle shavings and a slightly pronounced marine influence. Maybe just a tad more VA than I recall? The palate is medium-bodied with a harmonious and silky smooth entry and fine precision, not a powerful VCC, and very elegant with raspberry, orange rind, tertiary notes and tobacco toward the finish. Wonderful. Tasted at Bordeaux Index's 10-Year On tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2024)
— 8 months ago