Clos du Marquis 2006

As usual, the second wine, the 2006 Clos du Marquis, exhibits a character similar to the grand vin, but it is a more fruit-forward effort with sweeter tannins, and a more precocious, evolved personality. With super intense black cherry and cedary notes intermixed with hints of licorice and barrique, this deep, medium to full-bodied, velvety-textured wine is ideal for consumption over the next 15+ years.

Offers violet and blackberry on the nose, with tar. Full-bodied, with velvety tannins and a fruity, mineral aftertaste. Long and silky. Very serious for the vintage. Best after 2013.

Bright, full ruby-red. Ripe aromas of blackberry, kirsch, cedar and sexy oak. Rich, broad and pliant, with chewy, vibrant flavours of black fruits and liquorice. This boasts excellent texture and depth for a second wine. Finishes with substantial dusty, fine tannins and excellent length. A serious and full vintage for Clos du Marquis, but less forbidding now that it's in bottle than a sample I tried from barrel last spring.

Showing secondary notes of olive tapenade, cedar, cigar wrapper, and juicy cassis, while firm in character, the wine can be enjoyed today with an hour or two of decanting.

Astonishingly deep colour. Slightly green-tinged nose, lightly herbaceous, plum skins, withered tea leaves, quite profound. Malty palate, a slight oxidative note, dried fruits, showing bitter notes from the extraction, good potential.

Astonishingly deep colour. The nose comes across a touch green, lightly herbaceous, plum skins, wilted tea leaves, quite profound. Malty palate, slight volatile note, dried fruits, showing bitter notes from the extraction, good potential.

Fruity, sweet, rather slender bouquet with red berries and rubber. Slim, sweet, light palate with light fruit, plenty of tannins. Drying finish. 16/20 2012 - 2018

As always, the wine is complete but with a character different from the Grand vin: a little less oaky on the nose, less dense, less taut in its tannin and texture, yet superbly balanced, more overtly fruity, complex, long.

Deep colour. Tobacco on the nose. And red fruit. Slender palate with a lovely feel, with a supple, mellow body. Good length without tannic harshness. Pleasant.

A beautifully perfumed, dark-colored wine, bursting with black plums and violet perfumes. It is, on the surface, delicious, but taste beneath that and it becomes complex and dark, with immense but velvet tannins, suggesting considerable potential.