Château Duhart-Milon: Tasting & Drinking
Having tasted a small selection of vintages over the years the improvement in quality at Château Duhart-Milon has been tangible. The 1982 was a good wine, but not quite of the standard one might expect from what is frequently hailed as one of the greatest vintages of the late 20th century. It was outshone by the 1996, which might not surprise us too much, but the 1998 also showed rather well in comparison, which is more indicative of the progress made under the Rothschilds. But the vines by this time have another sixteen years of age on them of course, and the vineyard and chai have seen another sixteen years of investment.
Each year at the primeur tastings the wine – or rather barrel sample – of Château Duhart-Milon is lined up for assessment alongside its grander neighbour Château Lafite-Rothschild and also that estate’s second wine, Carruades de Lafite. Increasingly the sample has shown very well in comparison. These are now very good wines, taking on an even greater dimension with each tasting. The 2009 – tasted during that first visit to the warehouse – was perhaps the best in recent years (I don’t believe my score was influenced by the beauty of the car park, but your opinion may differ), although the 2010 vintage came close, while the 2012 and 2011 vintages – although several quality notches down on the two preceding years – are still very good wines taking into account the less than benevolent growing seasons.
During the course of the years that followed there have been few disappointments. The 2014 vintage showed well, while the frosted 2017 was good enough; I am sure it would have been a monument task to protect from frost, and then to assess the damage done, on these more inland vineyards. Perhaps the rather washed-out 2021 was the most troubled of recent releases though. But no matter, as other vintages are tip-top, starting with super efforts in 2019 and 2016, with 2020 and 2018 nipping at their heels. It was only the 2022 that took me by surprise, a little underwhelming compared to some of its peers, and I though the same when I reassessed this vintage from bottle. The 2023 vintage has a similar quality level, impressive for this vintage, and further indication perhaps of a slightly subpar performance in 2022.
As for the white wine (pictured below), I have not tasted too many examples; at present I would say it makes an interesting addition to the portfolio, no more than that.
There is surely still room for improvement here, but credit where credit is due, these wines have come a long way in just a few decades, I am sure under the direction of Saskia de Rothschild and Eric Kohler these improvements will only continue. I look forward to visiting the newly attractive visitors centre in the future, to find out. (17/7/02, updated 14/3/07, 5/8/10, 3/1/14, 24/1/16, 16/7/23, 26/1/26)
