2011 Château Grange-Neuve

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 89 points

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  11/10/2015 - forceberry wrote: 90 Points

  100% Merlot. Aged for 12-18 months (depending on the vintage) in barriques, of which 1/3 are new.
  
  Concentrated, opaque blackish-red color. Powerful, brooding nose with aromas of woody pencil shavings and savory oak spice, crunchy black raspberries, fresh blackcurrants, some leather tones, a little bit of sharp smoky character and a hint of sour plums. The wine is moderately full-bodied, ripe plums, some juicy dark fruits, a little bit of sweet toasty oak, light notes of crunchy blackcurrants, a hint of tart lingonberry and a touch of pencil shavings. The wine is high in acidity with assertive, firm and grippy tannins. The finish is slightly warm with long and quite powerful flavors of tannic bitterness, fresh dark berries, some ripe plummy tones, a little bit of sweet toasty oak spice, a hint of crunchy blackcurrants and a woody touch of pencil shavings.
  
  Compared to my last taste a year ago, the oak has integrated slightly with the fruit: the wine feels more fruit-forward and less oaky at this point. However, the wine is still very youthful, somewhat angular and pretty tightly-knit, so it is still continuing to develop. There hasn't been enough development to warrant a higher score, but most likely the points will go up as the wine ages. No need to open these babies in the next 6-10 years or so. Priced according to its quality at 32€.

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  2/16/2015 - Brendel Likes this wine: 90 Points

  A very nice Pomerol. Leathery, round, soft nose. Smooth and soft and round on the palate also, medium mouthfeel, jammy, chewy. Not a whole lot of fruit but a nice leathery texture. Quite delicious. Needs time to open. 1 hr decant was not enough. Was not properly paired with a sweetish cream chicken stew -- needs lamb or other meat. Excellent on its own though.
  
  Wine improved and opened further on second night. Will get more.

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  10/28/2014 - forceberry wrote: 90 Points

  100% Merlot. Aged for 12-18 months (depending on the vintage) in barriques, of which 1/3 are new.
  
  Very deep and dark, almost completely opaque black-red color. The nose is surprisingly restrained and rather nondescript with subtle aromas of ripe dark berries, some earthy tones and a hint of savory wood spice. The wine feels dry, moderately full-bodied and pretty firm on the palate with ripe flavors of ripe red berries, some savory wood spice, a little bit of toasty oak, a hint of tart cranberry-driven fruit and a touch of plummy fruit. The wine is very structured with high acidity and ample, grippy tannins. Overall the wine feels quite fleshy and chewy, but not overdone nor overtly extracted. The finish is long, spicy and pretty tannic with mouth-drying astringency. There are quite complex flavors of spicy, toasty oak, red fruits ranging from ripe and sweet red plums to tart and crunchy redcurrants and cranberries with woody hints of pencil shavings and a touch of earthiness.
  
  A very nice, serious and sturdy Pomerol that shows good ripeness and fleshy fruit with impressively firm structure and no sense of excessive sweetness. Perhaps feels a bit less complex and expressive than vintages 2009 and 2010, but a pretty nice Pomerol nevertheless. Probably needs a few years more before the oak starts to integrate and perhaps a decade or so before the wine starts to show those classic, tertiary Bordeaux aromatics. A good wine now with nice potential of becoming a proper claret with enough cellaring. Priced according to its quality at 29,90€.

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