Description
4th Médoc Grand Cru Classé, Château Talbot comprises 110 hectares of a single vineyard in the heart of the Saint-Julien commune, an outstanding appellation as it counts no fewer than 11 classified growths.
Ideally situated on the banks of the Gironde estuary on hilltops of alluvial gravel carried by the Dordogne River from the Massif Central and from the Pyrenees by the Garonne, Château Talbot’s terroir is exceptional.
The totality of the 110 hectares of the Château Talbot vineyard surrounds the estate house and stretches north, all the way to the border with the Pauillac appellation. Planted on a terroir of fine Gunzian gravels with a core of fossil-rich limestone, which form draining hilltops, one finds a large majority of red vines (105 hectares) and a small acreage of whites (5 hectares).
The impeccable management of the vineyard is one of the most irreproachable in the Medoc. The wines, supervised by Nancy Bignon-Cordier, with the valuable advice of enologist Eric Boissenot and consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt, are consistently rich while remaining extremely elegant.
The smooth taste and their silky tannins make it possible to drink them young as well as after prolonged aging. With time they develop a delicate, complex aromatic bouquet with tones of cedar and Havana tobacco.
Tasting Notes
A strong effort from Talbot, this sexy, medium to full-bodied, richly fruity 2012 exhibits lots of creme de cassis, licorice, roasted herb and spice box characteristics in an evolved yet elegant, round, lush style that was surprisingly seductive and disarming. This offering stood out as one of the stars of St.-Julien. Drink it over the next 12-15 years. [90 points, Robert M. Parker, Jr. – April 2015, robertparker.com]
