2018 Château les Cruzelles, Lalande de Pomerol, Bordeaux

2018 Château les Cruzelles, Lalande de Pomerol, Bordeaux

Product: 20188124621
Neal Martin, Vinous93/100
Antonio Galloni, Vinous93/100
Wine Advocate93/100
Jeb Dunnuck93/100
Jane Anson92/100
Prices start from £180.00 per case Buying options
2018 Château les Cruzelles, Lalande de Pomerol, Bordeaux

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
Case format
Availability
Price per case
6 x 75cl bottle
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £180.00
New To BBX
New To BBX
BBX marketplace BBX 1 case £244.00
You can place a bid for this wine on BBX
Place a bid

Description

This is part of our January 2023 sale. The price shown above includes a saving of 10%. Prices are valid till January 24th, apply to 75cl bottles only and exclude BBX listings.

This 11-hectare estate was a personal project of the late Denis Durantou of l’Eglise-Clinet. Located in the lesser-known Lalande-de-Pomerol appellation, the château is adjacent to the famous Pomerol plateau – and benefits from the same clay soils. The 2018 vintage has deep, brooding aromas of damsons, blackberries and black cherries, punctuated by a light floral lift and a subtle twist of raspberry leaf, black tea and allspice. This is rich, silky and succulent, yet with beautiful precision. The tannins will allow the wine to age elegantly.

Drink 2021 - 2040

Georgina Haacke, Wine Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd (June 2021)

wine at a glance

Delivery and quality guarantee

Critics reviews
Neal Martin, Vinous93/100
The 2018 Lés Cruzelles impressed from barrel. Now in bottle, it has developed quite a precocious, intense bouquet of blackberry and blueberry fruit, a light savory note and earthy scents emerging with time. The palate is just wonderful: exquisitely balanced, quite structured yet not unapproachable, the acidity perfectly judged, with a ferrous note toward the finish. This is as good a Lalande de Pomerol as you will find in this vintage.
Neal Martin, vinous.com (January 2021) Read more
Antonio Galloni, Vinous93/100
The 2018 Les Cruzelles is another significant wine in this range from the Durantou family. It emerges from the oldest vines the family's Lalande de Pomerol property planted on clay/gravel soils. Dark fruit, graphite, sage, menthol, dried herbs and licorice add to an impression of virile intensity. The tannins are pretty serious, just as they were from barrel. A few years of patience will be hugely rewarded.
Antinio Galloni, vinous.com (March 2021) Read more
Wine Advocate93/100
The 2018 Les Cruzelles is composed of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, with 40% new oak and 14.5% alcohol. Deep garnet-purple colored, it comes bounding out of the glass with energetic scents of crushed blackberries, juicy black cherries and ripe plums, plus hints of menthol, dark chocolate and star anise. The medium to full-bodied palate delivers mouth-filling black fruits with a soft texture and bags of freshness, finishing long and lively.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate (March 2021) Read more
Jeb Dunnuck93/100
A blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc from the Lalande de Pomerol appellation, the 2018 Château Les Cruzelles offers a complex, almost Pomerol-like nose of ripe red and blue fruits, leafy tobacco, damp earth, and chocolate. With subtle background oak, medium to full body, and a concentrated, focused style on the palate, it's another head-turning wine from Denis Durantou that's well worth your time and money. it's going to benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and keep for over a decade.
Jeb Dunnuck, jebdunnuck.com (March 2021) Read more
Jane Anson92/100
A deeper and slightly more tannic expression than La Chenade, you can see the difference between the two more distinctly than in some vintages, as was clear during en primeur and for me this is the one that has improved the most over ageing. Expect darker blueberry and bilberry fruits, more of a clay-rich Pomerol feeling which closes in on the finish. This also means you get more chocolate notes, and grilled coffee bean coming through, and although it will need a few more years it has a rewardingly complex expression. 40% new oak. A yield of 40hl/ha.
Jane Anson (November 2020) Read more

About this WINE
Ch. les Cruzelles

Ch. les Cruzelles

Ch. les Cruzelles was a personal project of the late, great Denis Durantou – best known as the brilliant winemaker at Ch. l’Eglise Clinet in Pomerol. This property is not in Pomerol proper, but slightly further north, in the lesser-known Right Bank appellation of Lalande-de-Pomerol.

The 11-hectare vineyard lies adjacent to the famous Pomerol plateau, and benefits from the same clay soils. Along with neighbouring La Chénade (on the lower reaches of the same slopes), this estate was driven by Durantou’s passion for terroir. Through these estates, he could explore and demonstrate the potential of these impressive sites – which are still remarkably unknown, so offer great value for money.

Find out more
Cab.Sauvignon Blend

Cab.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.

Find out more