Le Dôme Vertical

Tasted 03/11/09

Le Dôme is a 3ha single vineyard (grand cru) in Saint-Emilion, situated next door to the acclaimed Château Angélus, owned by Jonathan Malthus of Château Teyssier. The vines were planted in the 1950's on sandy soil over a ironstone layer (crasse de fer). High proportion of old vine Cabernet Franc in the blend, 75% in some instances, the rest being Merlot.

Le Dôme 2004

75% Cabernet Franc. 25% Merlot. 14%abv.

Robe: Dark, black cherry, deep intensity.

Nose: Leather, mulberry, almost gravelly, slightly green with gamey and earthy aromas.

Palate: Noticable acidity, despite the full fruit, again leather on the palate.

Many of the tasters complained of a full 'attack' on the palate, which lingered into nothingness. I, on the otherhand, found effectively a full attack, no middle ground but quite a nice length. Questions were raised as to the longevity of this wine. I, personally, believe that this wine is a bit of a dark horse and will age for longer than expected, the noticable acidity in relation to the residual sugar and fruit augurs well for the future. 15/20

Le Dôme 2003

74% Cabernet Franc, 26% Merlot. 13.%abv.

Robe: Black cherry, doesn't have the colour spectrum of the 2004 but still very intense.

Nose: Very new world style nose, crushed black fruit, big jammy characteristics, not a typical Bordeaux.

Palate: Much more approachable than the 2004 due to the high fruit and sugar levels in comparison to the relavitely low acidity levels. Never-the-less, the wine gave suprisingly high tannins. Heatwave year in 2003, this heat has effectively killed the defined taste of the terroir and this wine could be, therefore, quite easily mistaken for something else.

All the tasters at the event, bar myself, found the 2003 superior to the 2004. Once again, doubts were raised as to the life expectancy of such a wine and as expected, as with a lot of the 2003, because of the heat, these wines were surely collapse in the not too distant future. This wine is however exactly the style of wine that the vast majority of consumers are wanting to drink. Big, highly extracted fruit-driven wines, reminiscent of those of the new world. 14/20

Le Dôme 2001

74% Cabernet Franc, 26% Merlot. 13%abv.

Robe: Much more typical Bordeaux robe. Slight maturity visible.

Nose: Typical Bordeaux, smokey and woody - one can tell that wine has been aged in French oak - despite the oakiness not being too overpowering. Almost minty nose afterwards.

Palate: Very supple wine with little tannin. However, the wine is incredibly well structured and the most nicely balanced of all the wines tasted thusfar. Enough crushed black fruits on the palate, with hints of white pepper and liquorice notes afterwards.

The whole tasting panel was divided between this and the 1999 as their favourite wine of the day. This for me, was the best, due to the fact that the wine was so well balanced and had aged remarkably well. Needless to say, however, there wasn't much in it. 18/20

Le Dôme 1999

Robe: Intense, typical Bordeaux once again, purplelish with faint signs of brick red.

Nose: Leather like the '04 with a certain flintiness. It is perceivable that that '04 is a younger version of this wine.

Palate: Excellent Bordeaux, unbelievably well aged, mushroomy and earthy like a fully-extracted Côte de Nuits Burgundy. Meaty wine. Still has youth on its side as well.

A great wine made from not the most textbook of vintages. We were most suprised to see such youthful characteristics in a wine with 10 years worth of ageing behind it. This bodes extremely well for the future. This is a wine, which will certainly outlive the 2003 if not the other two vintages as well. 17/20