Tasting Notes
Vinous – 91-93
(15.2% alcohol) Very pale color. Crystallized ginger, candied grapefruit, lime skin, melon and mint on the nose. Rich and quite primary, combining very ripe yellow fruit notes with more bracing licorice and mint. Very dense and quite dry, even a bit youthfully aggressive today. (This actually has 2.2 grams per liter of residual sugar, which is a definite positive for the balance of this outsized wine.) Conveys a tactile sense of mineral dust. The yield here was just 12 hectoliters per hectare due to spring frost, according to estate manager Paul Pontallier, and some lots came in with 16% potential alcohol. Very concentrated, palate-staining with a long pineappley finish that leaves the mouth feeling fresh.
Robert Parker – 94
The 2006 Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux has always been one of the pinnacle white releases from this First Growth and at ten years of age, I have no reason to change my mind. It has an exquisite bouquet of lemon curd, orange scents and a touch of praline that is very delineated and focused. The palate exhibits fine balance with hints of crème fraiche, almond and even a cheeky dab of marzipan. Funnily enough, it is difficult imagining that this is 100% Sauvignon Blanc and in fact, there is something almost Burgundy-like about this Pavillon Blanc (as I suggested in my barrel tasting note). Irrespective of origin, what it constitutes is a damn glorious white Bordeaux that comes highly recommended. So much so, I would drink this now rather than later. Tasted January 2016.
Anticipated maturity: 2016-2026
