2012 Les Grandes Murailles

The 2012 Les Grandes Murailles is an attractive, open-knit wine that is likely to offer its best drinking over the next decade or so. Blue and purplish-hued stone fruits, lavender, mint, smoke and sweet tobacco fill out the wine's gracious, mid-weight frame nicely. This is a lovely showing. This is the last wine made by Sophie Fourcade before she sold her three estates (including Clos St. Martin and Côte de Baleau) to the Cuvelier family, who also own Clos Fourtet, which lies adjacent to Les Grandes Murailles.

This tiny five-acre estate is now owned by Philippe Cuvelier, who has done so much at Clos Fourtet and more recently at Château Poujeaux in Moulis. The 2012 Grandes Murailles (100% Merlot) exhibits a dense ruby/purple color, nice, fleshy blackcurrant fruit, medium to full body, and some underlying earth and spice. The extract, length and overall purity and richness are all impressive. Drink it over the next 12-15 years.