Château Branas Grand Poujeaux 2014

The 2014 Branas Grand Poujeaux has a concentrated, quite showy bouquet with ample black cherry and sloes, although it is missing a little delineation and crispness in the process. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, clean and pure with black cherries, red plum and a touch of Christmas cake. It is nicely proportioned and caressing on the finish, a Moulis I think will show better within the first 5–7 years of its life. Tasted September 2016.

Soft-edged but fleshy, with good weight to the mix of warm plum sauce and crushed blackberry flavors. The finish picks up bay leaf notes, with dark hints giving this a pleasantly rustic edge. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2018. 4,000 cases made, 300 cases imported.

Finely concentrated fruit that is very well expressed. A very classy Moulis.

It’s really impressive the way the savory, oak (toasty) and fruit aromas are integrated in this quite concentrated wine, and the ripe, dry tannins give it some real drive as it reaches the long, well-knit finish. Needs a year or two of bottle age.

The 2014 Branas Grand Poujeaux has a much fresher nose than many grander names, with black fruit, raspberry, allspice and cedar scents. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, maybe just a bit more looser-knit than I remember, but it has a lovely caressing finish. This is definitely one of the better Left Bank wines of the vintage. Tasted non-blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting.

Lively, soft-textured wine, with round tannins, fresh dark red berries, hints of licorice, smoke and cocoa, and a burst of black cherry on the finish. And it sells for a song.

Intense dark ruby with a purple hue. Fine purity on the nose, intense with some floral violet notes, dark berries like cassis, plum, cherry and tobacco with fine oak and toastiness. Good ripeness with a dense structure, young but fine tannins, delicious dark fruit paired with fresh acidity, nicely balanced with long persistence, already tempting but with very good potential.

Extremely dark purple with violet highlights. Warm, ripe and expansive bouquet, showing plum, dark malt and blackcurrant. On the palate, the very ripe fruit returns, entirely in the black-berry register, with a generous finish featuring truffle, smoke and licorice. This still little-established Moulis-Cru has outdone itself this year and delivers a quality on par with 2009 and 2010. This is therefore a sensation, the best Cru Bourgeois. And the fewer people notice, the better it is for those who read such tasting notes very carefully!

THE BEST CRU BOURGEOIS Extremely dark purple with lilac and violet highlights. Warm, ripe and expansive bouquet, showing plum, dark malt and blackcurrant. On the palate, the very ripe fruit returns, all in the black-berry register; in the generous finish: truffle, smoke and licorice. This still little-established Moulis cru has outdone itself this year and delivers a quality like 2009 and 2010. This is therefore a sensation. And the fewer people notice, the better for those geeks who read such tasting notes very closely! Table of recent years XXX

(50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Petit Verdot) Silky, powerful, sweet bouquet; blue and black berries, nougat, tobacco, fine woods. Balanced, full palate with a finely creamy texture, powerful, sweet aromatics, fine tannins, elegant, finely muscular structure, long, opulent finish with good lingering flavors. Can improve further. 17/20 2020 - 2034

Medium to deep garnet in color, the 2014 Branas Grand Poujeaux features appealing notes of dried raspberries and cranberries followed by an undercurrent of tobacco, mint tea, and fallen leaves. The medium-bodied palate is bright and breezy, with mature, satisfying red berry and earth flavors, finishing on a minty note.

Very lovely aromas of red fruits, gentle vanilla, and mineral nuances, echoed on a fleshy, rounded, lively palate—not very powerful but stylish.

A broad, fleshy, rich and full wine, with dark chocolate notes. 50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet-Sauvignon, 5% Petit-Verdot.

Ruby red with purplish highlights. Youthful bouquet, slightly reduced. On the palate, the attack is smooth and fruity. The wine is appealing, with a fairly powerful tannic structure. The latter holds its own well against the body. The wine needs time to open up, both on the nose and on the palate, but the underlying substance is good. One to watch.

The nose is fairly aromatic, powerful, fresh, elegant, relatively delicate and offers subtle richness. It reveals notes of blackberry, blackcurrant, and delicate wild strawberry, with a hint of crushed raspberry, as well as subtle notes of black pepper, mocha, and oak. The palate is fruity, fine, fluid, and silky, offering lovely gourmandise, some flesh, good substance, density, good balance, tension, an airy feel, and good structure. Lovely palate! On the palate, this wine expresses notes of blackberry and crushed blackcurrant, combined with subtle notes of blueberry, raspberry, small red berries, and chocolate, along with a touch of coffee, refined minerality, and toasted oak. The tannins are fine and elegant. The finish shows very delicate notes of cocoa and roasted coffee beans. Beautiful aromatic persistence!

The wine has weight, tannins and a firm structure. At the same time, its ripe black fruits are developing to fill out the structure and give an impressive wine. Hints of dark chocolate go with the juicy acidity to leave a wine that has several years to develop. Drink from 2021.