Chateau Croix de Labrie 2021

James Suckling: "So much cool blue fruit and flowers here with minerals and subtle clove notes. Black licorice and black pepper, too. Medium body with very fine yet firm tannins. Focused and linear. Vibrant. The energy keeps going. 87% merlot, 8% cabernet sauvignon and 5% cabernet franc. From biodynamically grown grapes."

The Wine Cellar Insider: THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER:" Deeply colored, you find, espresso, licorice, dark chocolate, smoke, roses, black plums, black raspberries and wet earth on the nose. On the palate, the wine is round, lush, rich, flamboyant and loaded with chocolate-coated black cherries and licorice. Long, fruity and fresh, give it a year or so in the bottle and enjoy it for 15 or more years with ease. The wine is a blend of 90% Merlot with 5% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% ABV, 3.6 pH. The harvest took place September 30-October 16. Drink from 2024-2039."

Jeb Dunnuck: "Mostly Merlot blended with 9% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc, the 2021 Château Croix De Labrie saw 80% new barrels, with the balance in once-used oak. Deep purple-hued, it offers beautiful notes of cassis, liquid violets, chalky minerality, and some beautifully integrated oak. Rich, medium to full-bodied, and nicely focused, yet with plenty of mid-palate depth and ripe tannins, this pure, elegant, concentrated 2021 will keep for 20+ years."

Falstaff: "Dunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflex, zarte Randaufhellung. Zarte Edelholzwürze, dunkle Waldbeeren, Nuancen von Brombeeren und frischen schwarzen Kirschen, einladendes Bukett. Saftig, elegant, süße Herzkirschen, lebendig strukturiert, reife Tannine, rote Fruchtnuancen, ein Hauch von Gewürznelken im Abgang, ein eleganter, finessenreicher Speisenwein mit Reifepotenzial."