Chateau Rocheyron 2018

JAMES SUCKLING: " Blackberry, chocolate-powder and walnut aromas follow through to a full body with round, chewy tannins. Super structure and power. Turns tight and focused on the finish. Needs many years to soften. Try after 2026."

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "Dark in color, this sexy wine gets you going with all its opulent, velvet drenched, full-bodied, rich, concentrated spicy, black and red fruits. This has fabulous intensity, length, purity, character and sensuous textures. This is a hedonistic treat indeed! This will offer fabulous drinking for 2-3 decades with little effort."

DECANTER: "A barrel sample and a little bit harder to judge compared to the bottled wines at this point. Jane Anson (Decanter's Bordeaux correspondent) rated this very highly at early tastings and there is no doubting the ripeness of black and plum fruit, giving a luxurious texture with natural fruit sweetness balanced by acidity. Winemaker Peter Sisseck commented that there were 'a lot of wood tannins at the moment'. This is undoubtedly an infant but has great potential for the long-term. Drinking Window 2025 - 2045"

WINE SPECTATOR: "This is very suave right from the start, with a velvety-textured wave of cassis, warmed plum sauce and steeped cherries leading the way, while black tea, alder, bay and sweet tobacco notes fill in behind. Buried minerality on the very fine-grained finish. Serious juice. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2023 through 2036. Tasted twice, with consistent notes."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Rocheyron needs some swirling and a good amount of air to unlock fragrant notions of Black Forest cake, black raspberries and kirsch, leading to hints of rose oil, cedar chest, unsmoked cigars and powdered cinnamon. The medium to full-bodied palate is still sporting a fair bit of oak, lending assertiveness to the otherwise plush, seductive texture and spiciness to the very alluring, fragrant red and black fruits, finishing with great persistence. With another 4-5 years in bottle, this is going to be gorgeous, then enjoy it over the next 15-18 years or more."

JEB DUNNUCK: "Coming from the team of Silvio Denz and Peter Sisseck and a lieu-dit on the upper limestone plateau, the 2018 Château Rocheyron is a mix of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc brought up in roughly 50% new French oak. A rich, medium to full-bodied, mineral-laced 2018, it has a rocking core of red and black fruits, lots of smoky earth, chocolate, and leafy herb notes, a great mid-palate, sweet tannins, and a great finish. Give bottles 2-4 years and enjoy over the following 10-15."