Château Olivier 2011

A solid effort from this often under-performing estate suggests things are turning around at Olivier. The 2011 offers aromas of wood smoke, graphite, red and black currants and spice in a medium-bodied, nicely executed style. Drink it over the next 10-15 years.

Pure and focused, with a beam of red and black currant fruit stitched with light tar and tobacco notes. Shows polish through the finish. Drink now through 2020. 8,330 cases made.

89-91. Barrel sample. This is a solid wine with a dense texture and powerful tannins. Its big structure supports ripe fruits, with sweet berries and fine density at the end.

Bright, focused aromas and flavors of currants, raspberries and blackberries. Just a hint of stones. Medium body, good concentration of fruit and polished tannins. Better in 2015.

Medium bodied, lots of smoke, earth and raspberry scents in the aromas, the wine shows a bit of green and dryness in the fresh, crisp red berry finish.

Red wine with a quite deep and intense, still youthful colour. Fine nose here, indicating a good ripeness. Classic notes of cassis, dark berries, plum, some notes of tobacco, a slight mineral hint. Gentle oak, well integrated. Palate has a nice density here, it’s still what I would call medium-weight but very dense fruit here; nice juiciness I would say. It has a good tannic grip, but very fine tannin here, more like cocoa powder. Elegant dark fruit, like cassis and plum. Very stylish, I would talk about a rather modern style, finely polished, well-integrated oak, really layers of juicy dark fruit with a refined spiciness and a very long finish. It’s still a wine I would call youthful; I’d happily drink today, but it’s a style that should gain a lot of complexity over the coming 5 to 8 years, anything in that direction. Keep it in your cellar and see what happens.

Dark garnet, quite concentrated at the core, with ruby highlights and a lighter rim. Herbaceous bouquet, tobacco leaf, slightly underripe cherries; it shows nice depth, yet the attack feels subtly dry. Good aromatic presence on the palate, the acidity is ripe, which cannot quite be said of the tannins; the finish feels somewhat over-extracted. They probably tried to pull out too much and “overstretched” the vintage’s potential.

Sweet, light, floral bouquet with red cherries and oak. Lean, dry, restrained palate with sandy tannins, little fruit, muted aromatics and a short finish. 15/20 2016 - 2024

A supple, generous wine, with richness, lovely spice notes, good length, and a pretty finish—tannic, certainly, but with beautiful aromas.

The nose reveals spicy notes with a hint of liquorice and chocolate. On the palate, the wine is fruity, pleasant and already very enjoyable. It isn’t particularly dense, but it has enough expression to charm, now and in the years to come.

In bottle, its nose remains discreet. On the other hand, the palate has gained structure. The wine is developing with plenty of fruit, flavorful and enjoyable, leading to a finish with rather original inky nuances.