Château Duhart-Milon
Presentation
The fine wine from Château Duhart-Milon is often described as a classic version of the Pauillac appellation. It has a distinguished and reserved character. The courtier Abraham Lawton noted as early as 1815 that “it has firm taste, a fine colour, and a pronounced sap”.This strong personality of Château Duhart-Milon remains accurate today.
The vintage
2012 was characterized by difficult weather conditions in the Bordeaux region.
After a relatively mild winter, the spring was mostly wet and rainy, especially April, which brought a violent hail storm on the 24th. Such conditions hampered fertilization, leading to fears of reduced yields. Work in the vineyard was as vital as ever. June and July alternated heat and humidity. The weather became more stable from the beginning of August, enabling the healthy grapes to finish ripening in good conditions. Nevertheless, there was considerable variation in their degrees of ripeness and a great deal of sorting work was carried out by our teams from the end September.
Location
Pauillac is located on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, approximately 40km north of Bordeaux. With the tempering influence of the estuary and a great diversity of soils originating from both the Massif Central and the Pyrenees, Pauillac boasts exceptional climate and geological conditions for the production of outstanding wines.
Terroir
Château Duhart-Milon’s vineyard consists of a single block of vines adjacent to Château Lafite Rothschild, on the hillside to the west of the Carruades plateau. The property has 76 hectares of vines. The soil consists of fine gravel mixed with aeolian sand on a tertiary limestone.
Winemaking
Château Duhart-Milon is made according to traditional Bordeaux methods. The grapes are carefully sorted and placed in concrete or stainless-steel vats depending on their provenance for alcoholic fermentation. Gentle pumping over is carried out during fermentation to optimize extraction. Total maceration time is about 20 days before racking. Once the wines have undergone malolactic fermentation, they are transferred to French oak barrels made by the Tonnellerie des Domaines in Pauillac. Each barrel is tasted individually in December in order to determine which ones will be selected for the grand vin. Following this rigorous selection, the wine is blended and transferred to oak barrels (50% new).
Grapes
Tasting
There is some woodiness, but it is very refined and does not dominate. The fruit is subtle and develops after the wine has had some time to breathe.
The powerful attack makes way for a rounded, full-bodied mid-palate before finishing on fresh, slightly spicy notes that are still a little intense.
This wine will benefit greatly from 6/8 years in the cellar.
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