Château Clos Saint Emilion Philippe Cuvée 112 – 2012 – Saint Emilion Grand Cru

Deep opaque colour, very young, very youthful appearance. Beautiful nose here; this is modern stuff, with some smoky new oak, spicy ripe dark fruit, plenty of fine spiciness, and dark blackberry, plum, cassis. Good density on the palate here, and what I like with this is that despite that fleshy and opulent nose, it’s really well-kept on the palate, underlined by a very fresh acidity, good quality tannin here, finely grained tannin, layers of a lot of that dark fruitiness. The oak is not really noticeable on the palate; we feel some of those roasted smoky notes on the nose, but on the palate it’s just adding one more dimension here. So: dense, rich, vibrant dark fruit; good weight, good grip, and a very long finish. A wine I’d happily drink already today, but this is the kind of stuff I put in my cellar – not for very long, but I think 4-5 years would give it more nuance and complexity, if you have that patience.

Tasted by the Best Sommelier of the World, Andreas Larsson.