Château Dassault 2016

This is sleek and refined, with a beautiful feel to the waves of cassis, dark plum and fig fruit flavors that glide through, inlaid seamlessly with black tea, dried anise and tobacco nuances. The long finish is well-focused, with the fruit offset by a lingering graphite note. Best from 2022 through 2035. 5,000 cases made.

Smoked cherries, dark chocolate spice, black cherry and currant with liquorice aromas. Supple and generous with great freshness and persistence. Plumy richness with blackcurrant leaves and savoury, salty stone flavours give way to bold tannins with a bitter chocolate and espresso bean finish.

This has dense, dark fruit in a juicy mode with a strong array of ripe dark plums and quite dense tannins that really hold the finish in impressive style. Long, sweet tannins, bathed in dark-plum flavor. Try from 2022.

The 2016 Dassault is a gorgeous wine. Plush, deep and beautifully resonant, the 2016 has so much to offer. A whole range of raspberry jam, cedar, espresso and white chocolate notes develop as this plush, modern Saint-Émilion shows everything it's got. I would give the 2016 a few years in bottle to allow the tannins to soften. There is so much to like and admire here. Tasted two times.

Incense, smoke, licorice, wet earth and ripe, dark cherries are everywhere here. The wine is ripe, fleshy and round, with a silky, polished finish of espresso, vanilla and plum. Give it a few years for the oak to integrate and this will be a very nice treat.

Deep dark ruby, opaque core, purple reflections, subtle brightening at the rim, intense nuances of ripe blackberry, some liquorice, delicate fine oak spice, tobacco notes. Complex, pronounced fruit, round, supporting tannins, savoury, subtle nougat, ripe plum on the finish.

Ripe, pure, modern nose with dark berries and mild oak. Dense palate, pure and polished with grainy tannins, yet with high extract, sweet dark fruit, and a long, lingering finish.

Deep purple with a violet rim. Very dense bouquet of elderberry juice and marinated cherries. On the very powerful palate, a tight-knit tannic framework and cassis candy notes. The finish shows black-berried fruit, trimmed for finesse but therefore too straightforward. They simply tried to do too much. Potential rating!

Kunz barrel sample 17: jammy, sweet bouquet, blackberry jam, mocha, caramel, blackcurrant. Broad, plush palate with sweet fruit, powdery tannins, sweet aromatics, medium finish.

Velvety, powerful, fruity, mineral bouquet; strawberry jam, mulberries, dark chocolate, slate. Dense, opulent, and fruity palate with powerful, sweet fruit, broad structure, plenty of fine tannins, intense aromatics, long, concentrated finish. 17/20 2024 - 2036

Saint-Émilion enthusiasts will find plenty to enjoy here. Merlot displays all its elegance, without much flamboyance, lending depth to this pure classic of the vineyard, built on the vigor of the 2016 tannins, and delivering a rich, silky, and indulgent fruit on the finish.

Small black fruits, notes of prune, floral bramble. Lively, juicy, gourmand palate, broad, velvety tannins, graphite finish.

Purple with violet highlights. I remember perfectly the emotion this wine stirred in me when I tasted it during the En Primeur season. It was at the Catusseau oenology laboratory. I was so amazed that I asked Dany Rolland to join me to pinch me and bring me back down to earth. Today, the wine still moves me, but Dany is in South America! I don’t need a pinch, because I realize this wine fully embraces its true nature. It is elegant, complex, fruity, and manages its different expressions perfectly. It brilliantly reminds us how Bordeaux can shine through finesse and subtlety, without necessarily overwhelming us with power. On the palate, the wine shows fine-grained tannins. It has body, density, and freshness. The tannins lend a suave touch, and the structure carries the freshness. A convincing—and touching—wine!

Dark, intense, and vibrant color. Attractive, moderately aromatic nose with pure, ripe fruit. Soft on the attack, silky mid-palate, generous and juicy, with brightness in the flavor after the mid-palate; the wine finishes long, tasty, and nuanced. It combines preserved fresh fruit with just a touch of oak-polished background. Very good. Evokes 1998 with greater precision.

89–91. Barrel Sample. Dense, dry tannins dominate this wine. It makes it hard to discern the fruit. Will it soften? Certainly, although the structure will likely remain firm.