This polished, precise red exhibits delicious mulled black cherry, sleek cassis and dark plum fruit all inlaid with hints of toasted spice and mesquite. A nice flash of chalk helps give the finish cut.
Reviews:
- Wine Advocate: Beautiful blueberry, black raspberry and cassis fruit as well as incense and graphite jump from the glass of this inky ruby/purple-colored wine. Ripe, medium to full-bodied, dense and rich, this is one of the stars of Moulis in 2009. Given its low acidity but abundant tannin, I suspect it could close down in a few years and last two decades.
- James Suckling: Shows pretty plum and spice character, with full body, velvety tannins and a dried lemon and subtle fruit aftertaste. Rich and structured.
Producer Information
Château Chasse-Spleen is a winery in the Moulis-en-Médoc appellation to the west of Margaux. It has long been viewed as the leading estate in that appellation – alongside Château Poujeaux – and is widely regarded, if not of being at cru classé standard, then certainly as holding a place among the top wines just beneath the classification. It was selected as one of six Crus Exceptionnels in the Cru Bourgeois classification in 1932 and maintained that status until the annulment of the classification in 2007. The wines are prized for their well-balanced fruitiness across a range of vintages. A second wine, L’Heritage de Chasse-Spleen, was known as L’Ermitage before 2000. L’Oratoire de Chasse-Spleen is the third wine. A white wine is also made, featuring around two-thirds Semillon to one-third Sauvignon Blanc. The 80 hectares (200 acres) of vineyards are planted with around 70 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, mostly on gravel, and 25 percent Merlot in areas with a strata of clay under the gravel or with clay over limestone. The remaining five percent is planted to Petit Verdot.
