Tasted at Bordeaux Index's annual 10-Year On tasting in London. The 2006 Château Léoville Poyferré has one of the most harmonious and complete bouquets from Saint Julien: very well-defined blackberry, briary and chalky scents, real focus and delivery here. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, ripe tannin matched with well-judged acidity. Like the 2006 Léoville-Barton, it is stubborn and backward, but there is clearly harmony and focus on the finish, the new oak deftly assimilated in the fabric of the wine. This is a lovely wine from Didier Cuvelier.
(Interim - May 2016, The Wine Advocate)
Tasted at Bordeaux Index's annual 10-Year On tasting in London.The 2006 Château Branaire-Ducru has a lifted forest floor, minty bouquet that needs to show more fruit intensity. It just lacks a little conviction. The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannin, a little rustic compared to its peers with a grainy, quite savory finish that needs more depth. This is drinking perfectly now and I would not leave it more than several years.
This wine seemed more impressive from cask than it is from bottle, as the oak seems to overwhelm much of its personality, and the wine’s austere, astringent tannins are cause for concern. It is concentrated and dark ruby purple, but the oak and tannin excesses seem to suggest an uncertain future. In any event, patience is most definitely required.
Another sleeper of the vintage from an estate that has been doing everything right since 1998, this deep purple-hued 2006 exhibits sweet blue and blackberry fruit intermixed with notions of licorice, camphor, and flowers. The wine possesses outstanding concentration, medium to full body, moderately firm, but sweet, noble tannins, and a long finish. The ripeness of the fruit suggests a certain degree of accessibility.
(181, The Wine Advocate)
A big time sleeper of the vintage as well as a fabulous value, this dark ruby/purple-colored offering hit all cylinders in 2004, a credit to proprietor Jean Thiel. Supple tannins, a big, sweet, fleshy personality, and plenty of creme de cassis, cherry, earth, and background oak are found in this full-bodied, flamboyant wine. It can be drunk now or cellared for 15 or more years.
(181, The Wine Advocate)