Updated: Oct 27, 2022
We have not tasted this wine for over ten years, so relying on tasters' notes is better. Suffice it to say that the updated scores remain in the range of 94 to 96 points, for example. And what continues to impress us after all these years is the fruit complexity added from liquorice, menthol and fresh minerals, as well As the class and balance on the palate. With a chalky finish, there is adequate concentration, power, freshness and finesse. Also, the elegant tannins for this excellent and long wine.
One of my all-time favourite wines from Domaine de Chevalier is a silky, rather classic Pessac-Leognan with notes of scorched earth, tobacco leaf and black and red currants but no hard edges. Fragrant, complex aromatics are followed by a savoury, expansively flavoured wine made from a final blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. The wine hit 13.5% natural alcohol, which must certainly be among the highest they have ever achieved, even eclipsing 2009. This beauty can be drunk in 5-6 years or cellared for 20 or more, an opulent, precocious style of wine that seems much more developed, complex, and delicious than I thought from the barrel. 95 Robert Parker, Wine Advocate (205), March 2013. Edited.
This shows beautiful aromas of flowers, raspberries and blackberries that follow through to an entire body with ultra-silky tannins and a long, long finish. It lasts for minutes. Best in 2018 or later. 96 James SuckingFebruary 2013. Edited.
We have not been Tasting this wine for a while. Suffice it to say its classic St Julien nosing and tasting profile leaves a neat and well-balanced impression. The fruit is still ample, the score reasonably good, and the tastings convincing. But, unfortunately, 2001 has become a vintage not easy to come by. Owned by the Suntory group and comprising 270 acres next to Gruaud Larose, the estate went through significant improvements and huge investments through the 80s, 90s and 2000s and now shows the remarkable resurrection of the estate into the producer it always had the potential to be. Big production, high economies of scale and hence always great value.
92 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted blind at Bordeaux Index's 10-Year On horizontal. The Lagrange '01 is your quintessential Saint Julien wine with blackberry, cedar, cigar box and a touch of smoke. Very focused with great penetration. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannins, superb balanced with a superb cedar and tobacco tinged finish supported by ample red fruits. Great length, just a wine you want to drink (although it should keep for another decade.) Tasted March 2011. (NM) (5/2011). Edited.
90 points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar
Sexy, sweet aromas of black plum, black raspberry and flowers; smells more like merlot, while 2000 is more cabernet. Juicy and suave in the mouth, with subtle but intense flavors nicely firmed by juicy acids. Classy, impeccably balanced wine with very fine-grained tannins. While this is not hard today, it should be given ten years in the cellar. (ST) 90+ (9/2004). Edited.
90 points Wine Spectator
Lots of floral, berry and raspberry characters on the nose. Medium- to full-bodied, with well-integrated tannins and a fresh finish. Lovely wine. Round and refined. *Smart Buys* (JS) (3/2004)
Jancis Robinson
Light but very complete nose. Absolutely classic claret with nothing out of place. All are very succulent but dry rather than sweet. I can't see how anyone could be disappointed by this unless they didn't understand red Bordeaux at all. 17.5/20 Points (JR) (3/2011). Edited.
Updated: Feb 6, 2023
Deep ruby, purple-tints- tight rim-dense and weighty-dark-fruited(cherry, plums, truffle) and the once brooding and unyielding tannins turned velvety supportive after all these years. The wine into a more rounded, elegant Bordeaux with balance brings charming cedar and leather tones into the mix with an air of modernity. According to some, this wine is perfect for current drinking and will be cellar well for at least another four to five years. The ABV is right on, at 13.5%.
The value of Certan de May is its style, reminiscing certain elements of Petrus in the form of power and richness with great eleganceAsas one of the three Certansthe bottle , is particularly well-liked by critics and professionals for the unique nerve and minerality, alongside VCC for ripeness and Hosanna for power. It is unique because its fruit is from a single parcel of clay-gravel soils from 50-year-old vines (at the vintage time)! Production is mere 2000 cases. Grapes' composition is 70% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon(for vintage 2006), broadly reflected in the blend of the end wine. Grapes are hand-picked; after vinification, the wine rests in 70% new oak for 18 months.
While quality cannot always measure through scoring, its scores are always consistent ad high, such as:
94 points Wine Enthusiast
Barrel Samplis e Impressive; the tannins may be too overwhelming. Look instead for the black plums, the spice and the structure. It needs to come into balance. (RV) (12/2009). Edited.
93 points Decanter
Once part of thCertain originalin estate, 2006 is another overlooked vintage. It's full of black plum and hedgerow scents, while the palate is poised – clean as a whistle with a mineral-rich finish. Edited.
94 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted at the chateau. Those nose demands some coaxing from the glass, so I wait for 5-10 minutes for it to unfu,rl whereupon it reveals ripe, blackberry, wild hedgerow, touches of blueberry and black plum. There is just a hint of cedar coming from the Cabernet that gains a seaweed scent with time. The palate is full-bodied, wonderful balance, very focused with firm structure but also a sense of femininity. Slightly grainy texture, great purity, lovely ripe blackberry, minerally, black plum and white pepper tinged finish. This is a great wine. Tasted September 2009. Edited.
92 points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar
Full, deep red ruby. Sexy aromas of roasted raspberry, plum liqueur, coffee, smoke, mocha and chocolate. Enticing and exotic Pomerol, with lush flavours of roasted plum and musky coffee leavened by a medicinal reserve. Despite its enticing sweetness and fullness, this is relatively backward today, with the dusty, substantial tannins calling for at least a few years of patience. But the wine's firm backbone and excellent breadth and length suggest it should age well. (ST) (5/2009). Edited.
