Critics reviews
Robert M. Parker, Jr. - 29/02/2012
About this WINE
Chateau Clos de Sarpe
There is only a tiny amount of this excellent St Emilion Grand Cru made each year. The 10 acre vineyard is biodynamically farmed and is situated on a south-south-east-facing, limestone hillside. The plantings are very old vines, 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc.
The winemaking is very modern with an eight to ten day maceration, followed by a long, four to five week fermentation and maceration with micro-oxygenation. The wine is aged for 16-18 months in 100% new oak barrels.The style is powerful, fruit driven and rich with notes of black fruit, smoke and liquorice.
Cabernet Sauvignon Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.
In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.
In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and Australia.
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Description
I have had this wine on three occasions. I had inconsistent problems with it from barrel, and now that it is in bottle, it seems atypical for this estate, where I have loved every vintage until 2009. It has an unusual set of aromatics that are difficult to articulate, suggesting a wine that is on the verge of oxidation. The tannins, of course, are high, but this is my least favorite vintage of what can be a very great wine in many years.
Robert M. Parker, Jr. - 29/02/2012
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