Château d'Armailhac, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2024
The d'Armailhac 2024 offers a charmingly transparent profile of fresh red fruit, evoking cherries, stones and fresh blackcurrants. Subtle earthy notes of tilled soil mingle with cocoa nib, leading into suggestions of coffee and cigar box. This is a pretty and cheerful wine, displaying charming mid-palate fruit, accented by delicate spice and floral nuances. The finish is both lingering and energetic.
critic reviews
Deep garnet-purple colored. Pops out of the glass with vibrant notes of red currants and black raspberries, followed by hints of menthol, red roses, and dark chocolate. The light-bodied palate is elegant and vibrant with spritely red berry flavors and lightly chewy tannins, finishing with great freshness.
The 2024 Château d'Armailhac was picked from September 25 to October 8. It has a slightly distant nose at first that demands coaxing from the glass. This is not its usual outgoing self, though that said, it is well-defined with black fruit and light damp loam scents. The palate is medium-bodied with quite a peppery entry. This lingers nicely in the mouth with fine grip and a pleasant roundness that emerges toward the graphite-tinged finish. Give it two or three years in bottle.
Lovely deep plum colour, this has some chalky tannins, good depths of cassis and greengage fruits, with the real floral edge of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon, that savoury, precise, elegant side, enjoyble with salinity and lift on the finish, Here the longer stretch of drought than normal of rainfall from end of June to mid September. Harvest began September 25 though to October 8, 3.69 pH. 50% new oak.
Offering up pretty notes of sweet wild berries, rose petals and burning embers, the 2024 d'Armailhac is medium-bodied, bright and precise, with a sweet core of fruit but a somewhat strict, angular profile. If it rounds out with elevage, it will merit a better rating.