Château Le Tertre Rôteboeuf
Saint-Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend
St. Émilion, Libournais, Bordeaux, France
My contributions for a fun right bank Bordeaux dinner. This ended up being a standout amongst the group but others included ‘95 Cheval Blanc, ‘05 L’Evangile and ‘89 Figeac (the starter whites may have stole the show…mag of ‘10 Chave Hermitage Blanc, ‘08 Dom, ‘21 Magi’s CdP Blanc…this ‘04 ZH I brought was an excellent bridge to dessert…good r/s but not cloying; incredible vineyard).
I’ve only had TR once before but it was infanticide many years ago. At roughly 20yrs, I was excited to catch this on what I expected to be near peak. Very tight upon opening but after 45mins in the bottle, this really strut its stuff. Red and purple floral aromatics, bay leaf, and leather. Beautifully elegant on the palate but everything is in its place…supremely balanced. Clean (no brett), multi-layered fruit spectrum (red, purple, blackberries), sweet tobacco, espresso, little cassis. No roasted or over ripe profile, and also not a lean/green machine. Balance balance balance. Lovely. Wish I had another.
My contributions for a fun right bank Bordeaux dinner. This ended up being a standout amongst the group but others included ‘95 Cheval Blanc, ‘05 L’Evangile and ‘89 Figeac (the starter whites may have stole the show…mag of ‘10 Chave Hermitage Blanc, ‘08 Dom, ‘21 Magi’s CdP Blanc…this ‘04 ZH I brought was an excellent bridge to dessert…good r/s but not cloying; incredible vineyard).
I’ve only had TR once before but it was infanticide many years ago. At roughly 20yrs, I was excited to catch this on what I expected to be near peak. Very tight upon opening but after 45mins in the bottle, this really strut its stuff. Red and purple floral aromatics, bay leaf, and leather. Beautifully elegant on the palate but everything is in its place…supremely balanced. Clean (no brett), multi-layered fruit spectrum (red, purple, blackberries), sweet tobacco, espresso, little cassis. No roasted or over ripe profile, and also not a lean/green machine. Balance balance balance. Lovely. Wish I had another.
