Château Dassault 2019

Firm, focused structure with polished tannins, clearly less robust than in the past: a pleasing move toward better balance.

Ripe and lush, with the vintage’s warm cassis, plum and blackberry compote profile. This is backed by alder and juniper hints as it flows through the dark earth-accented finish. There’s a bit of burl here, but everything is in proportion. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Best from 2024 through 2038. 3,000 cases made, 700 cases imported.

Aromas of blueberries, salted plums, stones, walnut husk, cloves and dried herbs. It’s medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins. Fresh, tight and mineral. Polished and refined with excellent length. Try in 2025.

The 2019 Dassault has a forward, quite ravishing and generous bouquet of plump red cherry and raspberry preserves; satsuma and tangerine come through with time. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, rounded and quite concentrated, yet there is structure here, and Left Bank–inspired cedar and tobacco notes on the finish. Excellent.

Dark ruby garnet with a deep core, purple reflections and a touch of edge brightening. There’s a hint of liquorice, Black Forest berries, blackberries and a touch of wood allied to a floral note on the nose. The palate is juicy and elegant with a core of red cherries supported by vivid tannins and a mineral edge. There’s a chocolate note on the finish which lingers well. Already very drinkable, but with developing ageing potential.

The 2019 Château Dassault is rock-solid, offering a rocking bouquet of red and black fruits, camphor, new leather, cedary herbs, and a touch of flowers. It shows the more streamlined, elegant, yet pure style of the vintage, is medium to full-bodied, has ripe tannins, and a great finish. This is one classy, elegant Saint-Emilion with loads to love. It can be drunk today with a decant or cellared for 10-15 years.

Dense purple with a violet rim. Concentrated bouquet of ripe blackberries and elderberry drops, followed by exotic woods and liquorice. Firm palate with a silky texture, tightly knit tannic structure and sandy extract. Aromatic finish of plum skin, graphite notes and wild cherries. If it can handle that, there’s another point in it.

Kunz barrel sample 2020: (74% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% abv, production 50,000 bottles) Light, delicate bouquet, blackcurrants, cherries, coffee beans. Firm, slender palate with light fruit, sandy tannins, good aromatics, bourgeois structure, bitter finish. Can improve further.

(74% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% alc./vol., production 50,000 bottles) Light, delicate bouquet, currants, cherries, coffee beans. Firm, slender palate with light fruit, sandy tannins, good aromatics, bourgeois structure, bitter finish. Can still improve. 16/20 2023 - 2036

A well‑sculpted, well‑built wine that retains the chewy tannins of En Primeur and promises a long life ahead. I love the cigar box, espresso and campfire smoke notes that weave through the fresh cassis and sweeter raspberry purée fruit.

Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2019 Dassault features notions of baked plums, blackberry preserves, and kirsch on the nose, leading to wafts of pencil shavings, olives, and crushed rocks. Full-bodied, concentrated, and with a solid backbone of grainy tannins, it finishes long and earthy.

[ Primeurs 2019 Scores: 88-89 ] Sleek and slender with an energetic, velvety texture, this wine focuses on elegance and freshness.

The 2019 offers a spicy, fruity feel with powerful yet very fresh tannins. The wine doesn’t burst forth yet; it remains restrained, with ample tannins. It still lacks the savory dimension that should develop during ageing.

A serious nose that almost evokes a Pomerol, both seductive and slightly chocolatey, with black cherry aromas. On the palate, blackcurrant takes the lead, with a pleasingly silky texture and a finish that lifts into notes of licorice stick.

24-hectare estate (20 hectares in production) on the north-facing slope of St-Emilion. Sandy-clay soils, as well as clay on Fronsadais molasse. The wine is aged for 14 to 18 months in 70% new barrels and 30% one-wine barrels. The bouquet is of good intensity, revealing notes of cocoa beans and blackcurrant. Elegant character and perfectly balanced on the palate. The wine asserts itself pleasantly and with great conviction. A beautiful symbiosis of subtlety, charm, and power.

The nose is elegant, racy, and offers concentration, power, a lovely fine grain, a certain delicate power, as well as straightness. It reveals notes of fleshy/ripe blackcurrant, cornflower, and, more slightly, pulpy blueberry, combined with small touches of raspberry, Cubeb pepper, spices, a discreet hint of cinnamon and vanilla, as well as a subtle hint of paprika (in the background) and chocolate. The palate is fresh, delicate, and balanced, offering subtle power, linearity, a certain strength/power (yet controlled), a stretched profile, and lovely definition. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of pulpy blackcurrant, juicy/fresh Boysenberry, and, more slightly, raspberry, combined with touches of pulpy blue fruits, chocolate, tonka bean, almond, fine hints of fresh blond tobacco, a touch of clay-limestone freshness, and a subtle hint of bergamot. The tannins are precise and elegant, offering a touch of softness and sapidity. Good length. Presence of a fine chew on the finish/persistence.

Dark, intense, and beautiful color. The nose is slightly discreet, with ripe fruit. Delicate on the attack, tasty mid-palate and quite aromatic, the wine gently caresses the palate. Medium length with no hard edges.

Pretty on the nose, soft and subtle, not giving away too much. Lovely concentration here, feels excellently controlled with a core of deep dark fruits, and lovely soft enrobing tannins. I like the energy, freshness and lightness. It's not a powerhorse but feels carefully made.

Dark, lush, red fruits with black plums and coffee bean nuances form the core of the wine. On the palate, the wine is round, opulent, polished, and rich, with loads of black plums, licorice, and chocolate on the mid-palate and in the finish. This is already easy to taste, but a few years in the cellar will make it an even better wine. Drink from 2023-2035.