DBM Fine Wines

Tasting Notes

Deep dark purple colour. Cool, classy nose with hints of violets and dark chocolate. Fine silky tannins. Good value earlier drinking Haut Médoc.

90 Points, Neal Martin: "Tasted at the Crus Bourgeois 2010 tasting in London. The Cissac has a well-defined, delineated bouquet with blackberry, briary, crushed stone and tobacco notes. It is well balanced with graphite-infused black fruit, a touch of tobacco and impressive precision and length towards the finish. Very fine. Drink now-2018. Tasted September 2012."

Property Information

Located in the village of Cissac between St Estephe and Pauillac, Louis Vialard took over Château Cissac in 1940, dedicating himself to the property and its vineyards. Louis has now left the hard work to his talented daughter Danielle, inheriting the wine making traits of her ancestors, keeping the wine traditional but with a more modern approach and Marie, his grand daughter is closely following in her Aunt's footsteps.

Tasting Notes

99+ Points, Robert Parker: "Paul Avril was a bigger-than-life vigneron, a visionary, and a great teacher, but Vincent has been in charge for a number of years, and he has rewarded his father with what I believe is the greatest Chateauneuf du Pape made since 1978 and 1990, the 2007. I have not only tasted this wine at the estate, but I purchased it for my cellar, and have now drunk it on three separate occasions out of bottle. It is unquestionably one of the great Chateauneufs of my lifetime, and I suspect it will merit a three digit score after another 3-4 years of cellaring. The blend is generally 65% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, and the rest small amounts of Muscardin, Vaccarese, Counoise, and Syrah. It exhibits what is probably the deepest color I have ever seen here, and the finished alcohol is a high (for Clos des Papes) 15.5%. Still slightly restrained because of its recent bottling, but wow, what potential complexity, mind-boggling richness, and compelling flavor profile are apparent. It is a sublime expression of the art of winemaking as evidenced by its dense purple color and big, sweet kiss of kirsch, framboise, blackberries, licorice, roasted herbs, and smoked meat. It hits the palate with a fascinating combination of substance, power, full-bodied authority yet extraordinary freshness, elegance, and precision. Give it 3-4 years of cellaring, and watch it unleash its glory over the next three decades. This is a prodigious wine of great quality from one of the most important reference point estates in Chateauneuf du Pape."

Property Information

This is one of the great estates in Chateauneuf du Pape, with a history that dates back to the mid-1700s. I believe the Avril family first estate-bottled wine in 1896. Clos des Papes, with its 90+ acres of vines spread among 24 separate parcels in the appellation, is one of the traditional hallmarks of classic, long-lived Chateauneuf du Pape. Everything is aged in old wood foudres, no old vine or luxury cuvee is produced, and the red wine is a classic blend of 65% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, 20% Syrah, and the rest Vaccarese, Counoise, and Muscardin. It is generally not fined or filtered after aging 15 months in these old wood foudres. The white wine is an equal-part blend of Grenache blanc, Clairette, Roussanne, Picpoul, Bourboulenc, and one could argue that it might possibly be the longest-lived dry white of the appellation. (Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate)

Tasting Notes

ROBERT PARKER: 87
An excellent blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, this wine offers attractive value for its superb quality. The wine has a dense ruby/purple color, nice cedary blackcurrant fruit, medium body and surprisingly soft, well-integrated tannins. This sleeper of the vintage should drink nicely for 5-8 years.| eRobertParker.com.April, 2015

Property Information

Chateau La Tour-de-By is a 74 hectare property overlooking the Gironde at Begadan planted with 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The wines are very robust with classic earthy Medoc fruit and can age quite happily for 10-12 years if cellared correctly.

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 93/100
The 2001 El Bugader is one of the finest Syrah-based offerings I have tasted from Spain. An 8,000-bottle blend of 95% Syrah and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged 18 months in new French oak, it possesses an inky/black/purple color in addition to a sumptuous perfume of spring flowers, creme de cassis, and blackberries. Heady and intense, with low acidity as well as a fleshy, full-bodied, powerful mouthfeel, it should be enjoyed during its first 7-8 years of life. Impressive! 26th Apr 2004 - 152, The Wine Advocate