2021 Olivier

A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot, the 2021 Château Olivier has rock-solid black fruits as well as some scorched earth, tobacco, and lead pencil-driven aromas and flavors. Nicely balanced and medium-bodied, with good mid-palate depth and length, it's an outstanding wine that will benefit from just a few years of bottle age and drink beautifully over the following decade.

The 2021 Olivier is missing a little clarity on the nose, perhaps simpler than expected from when I tasted en primeur: tertiary notes, forest floor and black tea. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, fresh and sapid, though I feel it needs more flesh on the bones toward the finish. Drink it over the next decade.

The 2021 Olivier is a bold, hearty wine. Macerated cherry, spice, smoke, cured meat and gravel make a strong opening statement. There is a touch of burliness in the tannin and also a somewhat oxidative character to the fruit, both of which are distracting.