DBM Fine Wines

Tasting Notes

"This opaque purple-colored, muscular, full-bodied, classically made St.-Julien displays impressive concentration, chewy, highly-extracted flavors of black fruits, iron, earth, and spicy wood, and a powerful mouth-feel."
Robert Parker: 91

Property Information

In 1826, Hugh Barton, already proprietor of Château Langoa, purchased part of the big Léoville estate. His part then became known as Léoville Barton. Six generations of Bartons have since followed, and continued to preserve the quality of the wine, classified a 2nd growth in 1855. Ronald Barton inherited the property in 1927. He in turn donated it to his nephew Anthony in 1983. Today the vineyards are jointly owned by Anthony Barton, his daughter Lilian Barton-Sartorius and her children Mélanie and Damien, thus making eight generations ofBarton family at Léoville Barton. ©ugcb

Tasting Notes

Dark chocolaty, lovely balance. Very good, showing beautifully-textured, wraparound tannins. (AB/SM Apr 2010)

Neal Martin 92/100
Tasted at the Syndicat de Pomerol. The Domaine de l’Eglise 2009 has a sweet, mocha and undergrowth tinged nose with ample red-berried fruit. Good definition. The palate is oaky on the entry, but well balanced on the mid-palate with a composed, refined finish. Good potential. Tasted November 2011. RobertParker.com

Neal Martin 92-94/100
Tasted at Chateau Trottevieille and on two separate occasion at the Syndicate. The Merlots were cropped between the 17th and 28th September, the Cabernet Franc on 5th October at 37hl/ha, a blend of 96% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, this has a lifted nose that shows much great precision than recent vintages of this ancient Pomerol vineyard. Blackberry, wild hedgerow, a touch of espresso, smoke and with continued aeration more and more minerality. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, much greater precision and focus then any vintage that I have tried in recent years (which was most of them in December!) Fresh black, slightly earthy fruit, very fine persistency, this is unequivocally the first Domaine de L’Eglise that is realized the propicity of its enviable terroir on the Pomerol plateau. Tasted April 2010. RobertParker.com

Tasting Notes

Light gold in colour, with a delicate mousse. The nose unveils expressive notes of citrus, florals and white fruits. Well balanced with a delicate complexity, Chardonnay adds a lively, fresh fruitiness on the palate, whilst Pinot Noir gives the wine richness and length.

40% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, 20% Pinot Meunier

Property Information

One of the original twenty-six Grandes Marques Champagne Houses, Champagne Ayala was acquired by the Bollinger family in 2005 and remains the archetype of a great Champagne House. Established in 1860 in Aÿ, and surrounded by the area’s most prestigious vineyards, the core range of cuvées epitomises the dry and elegant House style.

Ayala were pioneers in introducing a drier style of wine during the second half of the 19th century. Cellar master Caroline Latrive carefully ensures the House style is maintained, crafting wines renowned for their precision, delicacy and quality.

The Non-Vintage Brut is always the benchmark of a Champagne House and the origin of the Crus from which the fruit is sourced is a good indication of the quality of the wine. At Ayala, Crus such as Cramant for Chardonnay, Aÿ and Bouzy for Pinot Noir and Venteuil for Pinot Meunier have been used. These villages are some of the highest rated on the Echelle des Crus scale.

The wine spends an average of 3 years on its lees. Its extended ageing in cellar and low dosage makes it suitable for any occasion.

Vintage Description

The definitive house-style, composed from 30 still base wines drawn from at least two vintages. 33% Pinot Noir – 34% Chardonnay – 33% Pinot Meunier. The nose is dominated by white flowers, green apple, brioche and a trace of minerality. On the palate there are notes of stone fruits, a certain nuttiness and a hint of honey supporting the freshness of the acidity. Dosage is 10g/l.

Property Information

Pol Roger founded his Champagne house in 1849 and it is still proudly independent, under family control. It owns 89 hectares of vineyards on prime sites of the Vallée d'Epernay and on the Côte de Blancs. Its cellars run for 7km and are on three levels, the deepest known as the 'cave de prise de mousse' at 33m below street level. As the name suggests this is where the wine undergoes its secondary fermentation in bottle. The fact that this deep cellar is at 9oC or less rather than the normal cellar temperature of 11-12oC prolongs this fermentation and contributes to the quality and particular style of the wines and their famously fine bubbles.

Tasting Notes

Burghound 91/100;
A wonderfully fresh nose is more restrained than that the Latricières with an even earthier array of deeply pitched black currant, plum and violent scented aromas that are again trimmed in gentle wood nuances. The overtly muscular and attractively stony big-bodied flavors possess solid mid-palate concentration that does a fine job of buffering the firm supporting tannins on the moderately austere, persistent and slightly better balanced finish. This backward effort will likely need 12 to 15 years to reveal its full potential.

Neal Martin, erobertparker.com 91-93/100; The 2013 Chapelle-Chambertin Grand Cru, which is matured in 40% new oak, has a more complex bouquet than the Latricieres-Chambertin '13 at present with that marine leitmotif returning here. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, good body and energy with touches of orange rind toward the harmonious finish. This is one of the standouts from Rossignol-Trapet this year. Excellent. Reviewed Jan 2015

Vintage Description

Neal Martin erobertparker.com, Jan 2015; ....There is much more refinement and precision nowadays and I feel that Rossignol-Trapet is a name that now deserves higher respect. “It was quite a difficult vintage in the beginning: wet and cold,” Nicolas explained. “It was not very warm and in June a lot of old vines were affected by poor flowering. In September, the sugar was very slow to accumulate, but the tannins achieved phenolic ripeness in the end. We started picking on 6 October and lasted only 5 days, one of the shortest we have ever had. This was because of the pressure of rot. The millerandage meant that on some days there was not so much to sort. The quantity in 2013 is only 15% more than 2012 that was our lowest ever! We sorted in the vineyard and in the winery (on a vibrating sorting table), especially for the younger vines. This year we used a Pellenc destemmer that does not crush the berries and this was a great help. The vinification was not very complicated, with a small amount of pigeage, 6 or 7 times only with daily remontage, a little more at the end in order to prevent reduction. The malolactics finished between February and April as the cellars are not so cold. We don’t add a lot of sulfur because we are certified by Demeter who limit its use to 70-milligrams.”

These were mainly superb follow-ups to their 2012s, even if one or two of their vineyards were touched by hail. At the top end those grand crus really prove their class, in particular the Chapelle-Chambertin and Chambertin itself. Perhaps the premier crus do not quite have the class of their 2012s, but wines like the Gevrey la Petite Chapelle punch above their weight. Overall, I was immensely pleased with these 2013s and, given that they tend to be more reasonably priced than other Gevrey growers, they come highly recommended.

Tasting Notes

Robert Parker 88/100

This estate's moderate to inexpensive wines can turn out to be good surprises. The 1975 Haut-Bages-Liberal has always been a powerful, concentrated, muscular wine. It still possesses an opaque dark ruby/garnet color, followed by a moderately intense nose of road tar, herbs, cedar, truffles, and black fruit that is somewhat dominated by the more earthy/animal side. Full-bodied, coarse and rustic, revealing exciting levels of extract, this wine will probably never come into total harmony. Nevertheless, it exhibits plenty of richness, intensity, and personality. Drink it now and over the next 15+ years.
Reviewed in Feb 1996

Property Information

Haut-Bages Libéral, a great growth Pauillac, takes its name from the Bages plateau where part of its wines are located, and also from its first known owners, the Libéral family. The vines are planted on a truly excellent vineyard site which has been consolidated since the early 18th century from among the finest land in Pauillac. Haut-Bages Libéral's largest vineyard plot borders on Château Latour; the rest adjoins Château Pichon Baron Longueville, among other illustrious neighbours. The estate was acquired by the Cruse family in 1960, and then by the Villars family in 1983. The winemaking facilities were entirely renovated and modernised, and the replanted vines have since reached maturity. ©ugcb