Vinous 91 pts—
The 2014 Clos Marsalette offers up an intriguing combination of super-ripe red stone fruit and expressive floranotes. Today, the 2014 is especially racy and a bit more overtly ripe than it was from barrel. Sweet herbs, tobacco,rose petal, mint and anise add lift to the creamy, inviting finish. Tasted two times.
James Suckling 90 pts—
Quite smoky, but this is a rich wine that carries the oak rather well, and there’s a very solid tannic base to this that doesn’t dominate the taste. Delicious fruit under it all.
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【Jeb Dunnuck 91-93】【Decanter 92】
【Vinous 90-92】【James Suckling 90-91】
ZF822D Clos Marsalette Rouge Pessac Leognan 2021
Price: $258/bottle
3 bottles at a discounted price of $714 (average $238/btl)
Appellation/Category: Pessac-Léognan, France
Grape Varieties: 44% Merlot, 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc
Alcohol: 13%
Volume: 750ml
Jeb Dunnuck 91-93
As to the red, the 2021 Clos Marsalette has lots of red currants, hints of blue fruits, tobacco, and leafy herbs to go with a medium-bodied, round, nicely textured style on the palate. It has ripe tannins, terrific purity, and just a classy, balanced, satisfying style.
Decanter 92
Lovely raspberry and herbal scents on the nose. Supple and generously fruited, the tannins are juicy and fine and this really gives some crushed stone nuances and lingering liquorice spice that rests on the palate. It's linear and defined with nice clarity of flavour, balance and sappy texture. Driving and persistent - still quite a lot of tension here, accentuated by the spiced core, but there's freshness throughout giving such mass appeal.
Vinous 90-92
The 2021 Clos Marsalette is attractive and nicely spiced, all in a mid-weight style that will offer fine near and medium-term drinking. The aromatics are quite pretty. Crushed red berry fruit, mint, spice, sage and lavender are all laced together. There's lovely freshness and fine balance here.
Clos Marsalette was founded in 2002 by Francis Boutemy. Francis Boutemy already has extensive experience in Bordeaux, as he owns neighboring Chateau Haut Lagrange. In fact, Francis Boutemy comes from a wine family whose grandfather Jacques Guillemaud was both a wine merchant and owner of Chateau Larrivet HautBrion, also in Pessac Leognan.
Currently, the winery is jointly owned by Stephan Von Neipperg and Didier Miqueu. Stephan von Neipperg is currently the most sought-after master winemaker in the world. He serves as a consultant to dozens of wineries in more than a dozen countries around the world. It is famous at the Saint Emilion winery. The winery includes Canon La Gaffeliere, La Mondotte, D'Aiguilhe, Peyreau, Clos de l'Oratorie, a series of top right bank wineries, and also jointly owns Sauternes' listed winery Chateau Guiraud, which is very important in Bordeaux.
The vineyards of Clos Marsalette are spread over 6.26 hectares on the alluvial hills of the Garonne in the Martillac region. The soil in the vineyard is composed of sandy marl, fawn-brown sand and clay formed from marine sediments from the Miocene and Pliocene periods (5-15 million years ago). The red grape varieties planted in the vineyard include Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, covering an area of 5.46 hectares; the white grape varieties include Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon ( Semilion), with an area of 0.8 hectares. The average age of the vines is 16 years. The vineyard will prune the branches and leaves of the vines, thin the flowers and fruits, and strictly control the yield of the grapes.
Watch the winery's 2020 vintage wine specials:
