2018 Château Le Chatelet

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 89 points

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  10/22/2022 - sfwinelover1 wrote: 90 Points

  Brought to dinner by Bill, who purchased on our trip to BDX in June then shipped to Edwin’s palace on Lake Travis. Medium purple-red, with medium body and legs. Medium+ tannins and acidity, already well integrated, no heat. Light to medium complexity, medium intensity and persistence. Opened about 2 hours before dinner, this was extraordinarily accessible for a young BDX—it was close to ready to go 6 months ago, but felt like it was there now—and I thought all it needed was a slow ox. I concentrated my energies on the ‘16 Pontet I brought, which to my complete non-surprise, far surpassed this wine in all regards, but this was still a more than pleasant quaff. On the nose and palate, mixed red fruits, mostly cherries and currants, earthy minerality, a slightly dark floral note, and as Jeff Leve noted, prominent red licorice. Easy to drink on its own, it felt a bit overwhelmed by the rib lamb chops compared to said Pontet and the ‘13 Allegrini AdV brought by Win. While this added some weight during the 90 minutes or so it was open and is likely to hold well for at least 3-5 years with incremental upside, it’s good to go now. While I’m the furthest thing from a BDX expert, particularly this particular Bank, I’d go with Haut Bardot in this price range and any number of merlot-dominant blends coming out of Tuscany if it were my wine spend. At about the $60 price range WS is showing, pretty meh qpr and not pushing me toward the land of the croissant.

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  3/9/2021 - Jeff Leve wrote: 88 Points

  With licorice and espresso to accompany the red fruits, the wine is soft, forward, medium-bodied and almost ready to go.

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