Chateau La Violette 2014

DECANTER: "Only 2,900 bottles of this 100% Merlot entirely fermented in barrel. Fragrant and floral. Intense, layered fruit and really fine texture and tannins. Long and subtle finish. Drinking Window 2020 - 2032"

JEB DUNNUCK: "Like the 2015, the 2014 La Violette is made at the Le Gay estate in Pomerol and is 100% Merlot, from very fine, gravely soils, that’s fermented and aged all in new French oak. It’s a much more finesse driven wine compared to its Le Gay counterpart and offers an ethereal, silky, full-bodied, incredibly elegant style. With a deep purple color, fine tannin, no hard edges and a terrific perfume of black cherries, blueberries, violets, and spring flowers, it’s a sensational 2014 that needs 3-4 years of bottle age and will keep for two decades."

FALSTAFF: "Dezentes Holz, floral, Preiselbeere. Weicher, geschmeidiger Auftakt ­mit betonter Saftigkeit am Gaumen, leicht anhaftendes Tannin, gute Phenolreife, dezent mineralisch, Eleganz und Schmelz, aber nicht die letzte Verdichtung – dieses Jahr kein Quantensprung zum Stallgefährten Le Gay."

ANTONIO GALLONI: "The 2014 La Violette put in quite a brilliant performance. It has a clean and precise bouquet with blackberry, raspberry, bay leaf and clove-like aromas that gain intensity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin, very well balanced and price with a harmonious, poised and sustained finish. This is a very classy Pomerol although it will require several years in bottle. This is one to watch. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting."

JAMES SUCKLING: "Complex aromas of blueberries, blackberries and licorice follow through to a full body, firm and silky tannins and a savory and flavorful aftertaste. Needs four to five years to show you what it’s got but a beauty already."

THE WINEADVOCATE: "The 2014 La Violette has a powerful bouquet that is slightly gamey like its sibling Le Gay: plenty of red and black fruit infused with clove, crushed violets and singed leather. Maybe this is less glossy than previous vintages of La Violette that tends to be extremely polished. The palate is medium-bodied with svelte tannins. There is a fine bead of acidity and the texture is unashamedly silky smooth; plush with cassis, blueberry and raspberry coulis flourishing on the typically sumptuous finish. This is very seductive: a Pomerol with panache. It should drink well for 15-20 years. This is gorgeous."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Sexy, silky, and supple, the floral characteristics are the first thing that grabs you, before you notice the wealth of sweet, juicy ripe, fresh plums, dark chocolate, licorice, black cherry and wet earth. Medium/full bodied, with velvet tannins and loads of sweet, ripe, berries and chocolate in the finish, leave you wanting another sniff and sip of this increasingly harder to find Pomerol."

WEINWISSER: "100 % Merlot. 14 hl/ha. Produktion: 2'900 Flaschen. Tiefes Purpur, satt in der Mitte, Granatschimmer am Rand. Faszinierendes, parfümiertes Bouquet, Brombeerblüten, etwas Cassis und Damassine, wirkt verspielt und frisch, insgesamt mit mittlerem Druck. Im Gaumen cremig, sehr reife fast geleeartige Frucht, samtener Fluss, endet mit einem verführerischen Gianduja-Pralinenton."

WINESPECTATOR: "Delightfully pure, with gorgeous raspberry and boysenberry confiture notes streaming through, inlaid with subtle black tea and melted licorice snap accents. Shows spine for balance, but this is polished, creamy and inviting now. A hedonist's delight. Drink now through 2030."