Château La Croix du Casse 2016

Full-bodied, perfectly rounded, high sweetness complexity, pleasing.

Features a mix of juicy plum and blackberry compote flavors, with woodsy tea, cedar and apple notes and a flash of licorice snap on the finish. Ends with an echo of slightly firm balsam, which is likely to outlast the fruit in the long run. Best from 2022 through 2032. 3,000 cases made.

A nine-hectare estate located in the south of the Pomerol appellation, on sand/gravel soils with additional iron deposits. Croix du Casse produces plummy, voluptuous wines and in 2016 has added freshness and elegance to the soft, weighty palate.

Fabulous aromas of subtle, ripe fruit with hazelnut and coffee undertones. Full-bodied, round and very silky, with beautiful fruit and a gorgeous finish. Very sexy and exotic. Find this. Try after 2022.

Tasted blind. Very simple nose. Sweet red wine rather than recognisably Pomerol. Slightly over-alcoholic. (JR)

The 2016 La Croix du Casse has a very pleasant blackberry, cigar box and loam bouquet that blossoms in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with light tannin and clean, fresh blackberry and raspberry fruit, and delivers just the right amount of salinity on the finish. Drink over the next decade.

Red plum and cherry, with smoke, licorice and incense aromas open the wine. From there you find a medium-bodied, soft, fresh, forward shot of ripe, spicy cherries. You can drink this on release or age it for a few years. The wine was produced from a blend of 93% Merlot and 7% Cabernet Franc.

some dustiness, a hint of herbs, bay leaf and vegetal notes with underlying red fruit, plum. The palate shows medium weight, a bit more flesh, sweet red fruit, rounded tannin, well built in a classic style, rather accessible with room for improvement.

Kunz barrel sample 17: (93% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 40 hl/ha) Fresh, subtly green bouquet, redcurrants, red cassis, young wood. Medium-bodied, sweet palate with a rather slender structure, good fruit, fine tannins, sweet aromatics, light finish. Has room to improve.

(93% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 40 hl/ha) Fresh, delicately green bouquet, redcurrants, red cassis, young wood. Medium-bodied, sweet palate with a rather slender structure, good fruit, fine tannins, sweet aromatics, light finish. Can still improve. 16/20 2022 - 2034

Small black fruits, blueberry, blackberry, a floral touch. Broad palate, slightly firmer tannins, a slightly drying finish.

Garnet red with purple highlights. The bouquet of Croix du Casse 2016 unfolds slowly. If you plan to drink it young, or taste a bottle upon delivery of your en primeur orders, be sure to decant it. This young fellow needs air! Once done, it reveals notes of black berries and spices, yet remains on the defensive—in other words, it still has a lot to say! On the palate, I feel like I’m not tasting the same wine. It has breadth, pedigree, and compact, fine-grained tannins in harmony with the structure. The finish is lively, racy, and needs to gain in suppleness. Time will sort this out, I think… wait!

Dark color, good intensity, slightly evolved. Intense nose with pure, ripe fruit. Soft from the attack, then juicy and immediately appetizing, the wine unfolds with flavor, leading to a finish barely marked by tannin on the aftertaste. It’s good! Blend: 93% merlot, 7% cabernet franc.