October 4, 2023 - 6th and 7th of 12, decanted an hour, perfect corks and levels, lovely for what it is, more fruit on show than Jan bottle and perhaps more layering, some upside, 10 years. VGI (17).
January 26, 2023 - 5th of 12, pnp, perfect cork and level, showing less fruit and more tannin than last bottles in December 20, attractive, well made, excellent rqp, little upside but no rush. VG+ (16.5).
December 16, 2022 - Leuchtendes Rot, Duft nach Maulbeeren , im Mund sehr weich. Wenig Säure, Maulbeere, Schokolade , Brombeere, wenig Grip; irgendwie gediegen aber langweilig. Trinkbar bis Mindestens 2030.
January 10, 2022 - A great everyday drinker with lots of life ahead of it, and before the prices of the estate started to escalate.
September 16, 2021 - Quite dark and extracted, modern style, fruit forward, but never sweet and clearly European, lots of blackberry fruit and some licorice, dark chocolate, rum pot, elegant tannins and well integrated high quality oak. Desipte its richness and some heat on mid-palate this is quite elegant and gourmand. No signs of age at all, will probably hold another 5-10 years. Pair with red meat. - 90 points
May 24, 2021 - So I have to admit that I've somewhat changed my tune on this wine. When I cracked open the first case I enjoyed the bottles, but as time has gone on I've began to feel the weight of the fruit somewhat overbearing. It's still a decent wine, don't get me wrong, but the lack of freshness no longer appeals to my taste. For those who love a nice modern, and in this case, unfussy Bordeaux, this will hit the sweetspot.
December 13, 2020 - 3rd and 4th of 12, decanted 30 minutes, perfect corks and levels, as July bottles, attractive, rich style with decent drive to fruit, no rush. VG+ (16.5) and better for what it is.
July 12, 2020 - 1st and 2nd of 12, pnp, perfect cork and level - dark, slightly dense ruby, hint of brown on rim; attractive plum and damson fruit, touch of black cherry and tobacco, clean, not complex; medium, decent length and persistence, nice weight of fruit, poished, not layered, but satisfying, well made as expected, scope for upside over next 5 years. VG+ (16.5) but higher on simple pleasure.
July 10, 2020 - My first bottle of the 2010 Les Cruzelles. What a wonderful bottle of wine. Yes, as others have said, it is made in a somewhat modern style, but I don't agree with other reviewers that it is over-extracted (and I say this as a lover of the more traditional side of Bordeaux wines). Deep and inky in the glass, yes, full bodied and somewhat brooding, yes, but there is that deep earthiness that distinguishes a good wine from a fruit bomb and this wine has it in spades. This is just a wonderful wine, with a great QPR that you can enjoy any day of the week. Really, isn't that what wine is supposed to be about...enjoyment?
June 13, 2020 - Deep almost purple Syrah colour, rich black cherry on the nose, but extracted and unpleasantly tannic. 90% Merlot, 10% Cab Franc, but if I didn't know better I'd say there may be some "imported" flavours there. The 14.5% alcohol makes me thing of chaptalization, but the ruggedness and acrid flavour persuades me otherwise. If you're going to go to the trouble of jazzing things up you'd do a better job. An unfortunate and overpriced example of Lalande de Pomerol.