Wine Review of Château Moncets, red wine from Lalande-de-Pomerol, Bordeaux region, France.
Score: 91+/100 points
The estate that makes Château Moncets covers the oldest vineyards on the Moncets-Chambrun property, with vines averaging 40 years of age over a 18-hectare surface area (44 acres).
Created in 1770, the Chateau was named after the Général de Moncets who purchased it in 1872. Bought in 2012 by a family-owned French company, vineyards and winery have been upgraded to integrate a second vineyard of Château de Chambrun.
The production of Chateau Moncets has recently evolved with new packaging designs and with more sophisticated winemaking process.
The 2014 Château Moncets reviewed here is a blend of 66% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Franc, with 2% Cabernet Sauvignon.
The wine was aged for 16 months in French oak barrels (1/4 of them new, 3/4 being used 1-year-old oak barrels).
Overall Review Notes & tasting Impressions
A dense and seriously-good red Bordeaux wine from the lesser known and yet to-be-discovered-and cherished Lalande-de-Pomerol area.
Smooth on the palate and filled with juicy dark cherry notes, the wine shines thanks to the vibrancy of its salivating and crisp acidity.
The whole feels fresh and fruity, yet complex and deep thanks to well-integrated oaky tones and a constant sense of spiciness, ripe berry fruit power, with touches of grassy floral notes.
Chateau Moncets in this 2014 vintage is the perfect example of how this appellation can deliver the character, the depth, complexity, and the age-worthiness we love in Merlot-based fine Bordeaux wines, without, in this case, the expensive price tag.
All the goodness of a rich Bordeaux blend is a generous vintage is featured here, with the character and punchy dryness and minerality demanding tasters will be after for an interesting tasting experience.
A wine that feels like it aims higher than its reputation, and that, judging by this 2014, seems to succeed at it.
When to Drink?
Although already enjoyable to drink now, open and complex, given the wine’s acidity and solid tannic structure, it will certainly age harmoniously over the next 10 years (if not further) for those in search of an even more savory, ashy, and mineral expression.
Drink between 2018 and 2030.
Full Tasting Notes
This 2014 Bordeaux red wine comes in a relatively dense red color indeed, but more importantly a dark one at that. The wine stands out by the intensity of its appearance, featuring a dark red color with rich hues of both purple and orange.
The nose is equally intense, straight from the first sniff.
Captivating and seriously appealing notes of dark ripe cherry and blackberry jam come with cherry liqueur, giving warming and tempting feel.
Add some proud notes of dark cocoa, black pepper, and toffee for a deep yet pungently-expressive overall aromatic expression.
Put the wine in your mouth, and despite the generosity of the super-ripe dark cherry flavors that dominate the profile, what strikes most is the pungency of the wine’s acidity.
It’s crisp and juicy on the side of your tongue, and this helps immensely giving the wine an overall fresh red berry fruit dominant flavor.
Not only does the wine provide richness and alcoholic power from comforting and warming dark plum and blackberry notes, it also satisfies through the vibrancy and restraint delivered through its mineral acidic feel.
Tannins are relatively smooth and dense, still providing some grip and tension on the palate, this is still a relatively young wine after all. It will smoothen and round further with ageing, and certainly deserves to be able to demonstrate its potential with a few more years of maturation.
Salivating notes of coffee and caramel, together with lifted and spicy notes of green and black pepper, complement the whole for an overall complex and interesting tasting experience.
Enjoy 🙂
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