Château d’Arsac: Tasting & Drinking
Looking back over my notes I see I have managed to make contact with Château d’Arsac in most recent vintages, either tasted as a barrel sample at the Bordeaux primeurs, or as a finished wine, often courtesy of the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc annual tasting.
The blend is, as indicated on the previous page, always dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, but with a lighter, more westerly Margaux style. It is a more delicate interpretation of the Margaux appellation, the nose often scented with floral notes, the 2020 barrel sample being the first that springs to mind, with its fragrant nuances of violet and lavender. The palate tends to follow on in a silky character, with filigree black fruits, fine tannins and fresh acidity.
I have encountered Château Le Monteil d’Arsac much less often; the wines differ in appellation and blend, but there is much that unifies them, and it was not really surprising to me to find, when tasting the two wines from 2018 side-by-side, that they shared a lot of features. It is an attractive wine as well. I suspect both this and Château d’Arsac are best not committed to the cellar for long decades though, with somewhere between five and ten years, maybe a year or two more, the best time to drink these.
Recent vintages I rated include 2023, 2022, 2020, 2018 and 2016. Travel back further in time and we arrive at 2010 before we find anything comparable. (1/7/21, updated 30/6/24)
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