89 2005 Chateau Les Arromans (Entre Deux Mers) 4/26/08 ($18)
13.8% alc 90% Merlot 10% Cab Franc
Color: Medium deep garnet. (3.0) Bouquet: Cedar and rich blackberries with minerals and a little smoke. (3.0) Body: Excellent acidity and some mouthcoating tannin supporting rich fruit. Solid middleweight that's well balanced. (3.0) Flavor: Parallels bouquet, but a little leaner. (2.5) Finish: Parallels bouquet, being more full than the flavor in the mouth, with fruit, cedar, spice and minerals lingering. Very nice. (3.0)
Overall: A very tasty Bordeaux that drinks like a St. Emilion. Has rich fruit, excellent acidity, mineral terroir and just the right amount of spicy oak and tannin to make it very satisfying. A joy to drink right now, but might gain a little with 1-3 years bottle age. A very good value in a crowd-pleaser style (what's not to like?). (14.5)Joël Duffau is proprieter and winemaker. I had the pleasure of talking with him while tasting his wines. He makes a lighter, more fruit forward red and a white, both were very good, but this "Cuvée Prestige" is his best.