2023 Château Duhart-Milon, Pauillac, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
Inky plum, far deeper in texture and intensity than the Moulin de Duhart (in contrast to 2022, when both 1st and 2nd wines were intensely coloured). Classical Duhart on the attack, reserved and a little subdued, then in comes the waves of cassis, liqourice root, spiced plum, ink, tobacco and cigar box. High Cabernet in the blend, and it suits the style and character of Duhart. Has a ton of ageing potential, classical styled with precision, fully showcasing the enjoyment of 2023 in the right spots.
Around 65% first wine, 45hl/h yield, 15% of press wine. Harvest September 7 to October 3. A buy.
Drink 2030 - 2045
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com (April 2024)
The 2023 Duhart-Milon was picked September 7 to October 3 and contains 15% pressed wine, matured in 50% new oak. It has a much more backward bouquet than the Moulin, displaying well-defined yet tightly coiled graphite-infused black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins that belie the backbone of this Pauillac. That graphite element is accentuated in the mouth and controls the classic finish that could only come from this appellation. This is excellent, but patience is required.
Drink 2030 - 2060
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (April 2024)
The 2023 Duhart-Milon is seriously impressive. Dark, virile and brooding in its intensity, the 2023 screams with Cabernet Sauvignon character. Plum, blackberry, incense, leather, grilled herbs and licorice lend notable textural resonance and pure power. There's a good bit of tannin, so patience is a must. A virile, authoritative wine, Duhart-Milon is hugely promising in this edition. The blend is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot.
Drink 2031 - 2043
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (April 2024)
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2023 Duhart-Milon pops from the glass with notes of wild blueberries, black cherries, and fresh mulberries giving way to underlying hints of cardamom, licorice, and charcoal. The medium-bodied palate is chock full of bright, black fruits with fine-grained tannins and lovely, well-knit freshness, finishing with a real skip in its step.
The blend is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot, with an alcohol of 13.1%. "We've been restructuring the vineyard for the past 8 years, with a little bit more Cabernet Sauvignon, although we also have good terroir for Merlot," says Saskia de Rothschild. "The planting density is lower - down to 7,000 vines per hectare."
Drink 2028 - 2042
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent (April 2024)
80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot. 45 hl/ha. Cask sample.
Cabernet-cassis nose with a touch of vanilla oak. Less concentration than 2022 but the palate long, fresh and tapered. Structured with 15% press wine in the blend.
Drink 2030 - 2040
James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com (April 2024)
A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon (picked late, between September 25 and October 3) and 20% Merlot, the 2023 Duhart-Milon has turned out beautifully, unfurling in the glass with aromas of cassis, cherries and dark berries mingled with hints of mint, cedar and spice box. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, it's deep and concentrated, with an ample core of cool but ripe fruit, sweet tannins and a long, penetrating finish.
William Kelley, Wine Advocate (April 2024)
So much pure graphite and lead pencil here, together with blackcurrant and iodine aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied with creamy and velvety tannins that are very polished. Cedar and some tobacco box. Deep and layered. Al-dente tannins. Precise.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (April 2024)
The 2023 Château Duhart-Milon is much more Cabernet-dominated and has cassis, graphite, and sappy, floral, and lead pencil notes as well as medium-bodied richness. It's pure and has terrific overall balance, a notable sense of freshness (pH is 3.8), and building tannins.
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (May 2024)
About this WINE
Chateau Duhart-Milon
Château Duhart Milon is a Pauillac estate owned by Domaines Barons de Rothschild that produces on average 28,000 cases of wine per year. The wine chais are located in Pauillac town and the property has a similar climate to that enjoyed by the Médoc: maritime, with the Gironde estuary and the Bay of Biscay combining to act as a climate regulator and the coastal pine forests sheltering the vines from the westerly and north-westerly winds.
Duhart Milon Rothschild's vineyards (Cabernet Sauvignon 65%, Merlot 30%and Cabernet Franc 5%) border Lafite Rothschild. Vinification includes oak ageing, up to 40% new.
Duhart Milon Rothschild is classified as a 4ème Cru Classé.
Pauillac
Pauillac is the aristocrat of the Médoc boasting boasting 75 percent of the region’s First Growths and with Grand Cru Classés representing 84 percent of Pauillac's production.
For a small town, surrounded by so many familiar and regal names, Pauillac imparts a slightly seedy impression. There are no grand hotels or restaurants – with the honourable exception of the establishments owned by Jean-Michel Cazes – rather a small port and yacht harbour, and a dominant petrochemical plant.
Yet outside the town, , there is arguably the greatest concentration of fabulous vineyards throughout all Bordeaux, including three of the five First Growths. Bordering St Estèphe to the north and St Julien to the south, Pauillac has fine, deep gravel soils with important iron and marl deposits, and a subtle, softly-rolling landscape, cut by a series of small streams running into the Gironde. The vineyards are located on two gravel-rich plateaux, one to the northwest of the town of Pauillac and the other to the south, with the vines reaching a greater depth than anywhere else in the Médoc.
Pauillac's first growths each have their own unique characteristics; Lafite Rothschild, tucked in the northern part of Pauillac on the St Estèphe border, produces Pauillac's most aromatically complex and subtly-flavoured wine. Mouton Rothschild's vineyards lie on a well-drained gravel ridge and - with its high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon - can produce (in its best years) Pauillac's most decadently rich, fleshy and exotic wine.
Latour, arguably Bordeaux's most consistent First Growth, is located in southern Pauillac next to St Julien. Its soil is gravel-rich with superb drainage, and Latour's vines penetrate as far as five metres into the soil. It produces perhaps the most long-lived wines of the Médoc.
Recommended Châteaux
Ch. Lafite-Rothschild, Ch. Latour, Ch. Mouton-Rothschild, Ch. Pichon-Longueville Baron, Ch. Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Ch. Lynch-Bages, Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Ch, Pontet-Canet, Les Forts de Latour, Ch. Haut-Batailley, Ch. Batailley, Ch. Haut-Bages Libéral.
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.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
Blend: 80% Cabernet Sauvignon; 20% Merlot.
Duhart-Milon has deeper clay soils than its sibling, Lafite. This proved beneficial during the late-season heat spikes; the roots were in cooler soils with more water access. The Cabernet Sauvignon (80% of the blend) could progress to perfect maturity without any significant stress. This is less austere than in the past, with warmer summers and better viticulture adding a greater suavity to the wine’s structure. But it is still a splendid showpiece of Cabernet unadorned: spicy, crunchy, gravely dark fruit, with a touch of austerity across its blackcurrant and cedar palate.
Drink 2030 - 2050
Our score: 16.5/20
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