2023 Château Duhart-Milon, Pauillac, Bordeaux

80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot. 45 hl/ha. Cask sample.

Cabernet-cassis nose with a touch of vanilla oak. Less concentration than 2022 but the palate long, fresh and tapered. Structured with 15% press wine in the blend.

Drink 2030 - 2040

The 2023 Duhart-Milon is seriously impressive. Dark, virile and brooding in its intensity, the 2023 screams with Cabernet Sauvignon character. Plum, blackberry, incense, leather, grilled herbs and licorice lend notable textural resonance and pure power. There's a good bit of tannin, so patience is a must. A virile, authoritative wine, Duhart-Milon is hugely promising in this edition. The blend is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot.

Drink 2031 - 2043

The 2023 Château Duhart-Milon is much more Cabernet-dominated and has cassis, graphite, and sappy, floral, and lead pencil notes as well as medium-bodied richness. It's pure and has terrific overall balance, a notable sense of freshness pH is 3.8), and building tannins.

A blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon picked late, between September 25 and October 3) and 20% Merlot, the 2023 Duhart-Milon has turned out beautifully, unfurling in the glass with aromas of cassis, cherries and dark berries mingled with hints of mint, cedar and spice box. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and layered, it's deep and concentrated, with an ample core of cool but ripe fruit, sweet tannins and a long, penetrating finish.

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2023 Duhart-Milon pops from the glass with notes of wild blueberries, black cherries, and fresh mulberries giving way to underlying hints of cardamom, licorice, and charcoal. The medium-bodied palate is chock full of bright, black fruits with fine-grained tannins and lovely, well-knit freshness, finishing with a real skip in its step.

The blend is 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Merlot, with an alcohol of 13.1%. "We've been restructuring the vineyard for the past 8 years, with a little bit more Cabernet Sauvignon, although we also have good terroir for Merlot," says Saskia de Rothschild. "The planting density is lower - down to 7,000 vines per hectare."

Drink 2028 - 2042

The 2023 Duhart-Milon was picked September 7 to October 3 and contains 15% pressed wine, matured in 50% new oak. It has a much more backward bouquet than the Moulin, displaying well-defined yet tightly coiled graphite-infused black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins that belie the backbone of this Pauillac. That graphite element is accentuated in the mouth and controls the classic finish that could only come from this appellation. This is excellent, but patience is required.

Drink 2030 - 2060

So much pure graphite and lead pencil here, together with blackcurrant and iodine aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied with creamy and velvety tannins that are very polished. Cedar and some tobacco box. Deep and layered. Al-dente tannins. Precise.

Inky plum, far deeper in texture and intensity than the Moulin de Duhart in contrast to 2022, when both 1st and 2nd wines were intensely coloured). Classical Duhart on the attack, reserved and a little subdued, then in comes the waves of cassis, liqourice root, spiced plum, ink, tobacco and cigar box. High Cabernet in the blend, and it suits the style and character of Duhart. Has a ton of ageing potential, classical styled with precision, fully showcasing the enjoyment of 2023 in the right spots.

Around 65% first wine, 45hl/h yield, 15% of press wine. Harvest September 7 to October 3. A buy.

Drink 2030 - 2045