Wine Words & Video Tape

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Château Maucaillou

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Address: Quartier de la Game, 33480 Moulis-en-Medoc

Telephone: +33 (0)5 56 58 01 23

E-mail: chateau@maucaillou.com

Website: www.chateau-maucaillou.com

Château Maucaillou, literally ‘bad stones’ in translation, produces soft, round and attractive Moulis, quite an achievement in an appellation that tends to produce stronger generally more austere wines. It does age well too, producing Bordeaux with good earthy fruit and genuine complexity. Given this Maucaillou remains a shrewd buy as it is not that far behind either Chasse-Spleen or Poujeaux in quality but is less expensive. 2009, like so many in Moulis this vintage, is also an excellent buy. The 2012 also stood out recently at a tasting as one of the best wines of the appellation. Second wine Numero 2 de Maucaillou. Philippe Dourthe manages the property.

Vineyard/Terroir: 87 hectares , 75% on Guntz gravel, 25% on clay limestone planted with 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot.

Winemaking/Elévage: Fermentation in temperature controlled vats with a three week maceration. 18-21 months in oak, 30-40% of which is new depending on the vintage.

Tasting notes:  

  • 2015 Mid depth; deep at core; perfumed fruit; good palate with plenty of fruit and spice; harmony with spicy tones. Earthy note too. Grip on the finish. Pretty classic Maucaillou. [55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot]. Drink 2021-2027. 87-88+
  • 2014 Deep and saturated colour; lovely ripe fruit; real extract and matter; fruitcake; blackfruit; wet rock; layers here; menthol; lots of fruit; creamy tones on the palate; menthol; blackcurrants; spices; nice texture; grip. Excellent Moulis from Maucaillou. [51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 7% Petit Verdot, 13% alc]. Tasted 31 March ’15. Drink 2019-2028. 89-91+
  • 2013 Deep colour; purple edge; high toned aromatics; plums and blackcurrants with woody tones; quite grippy and chewy on the palate; plenty of sap too; austere finish. [47% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Petit Verdot]. Tasted 3/4/14 UGCB. Drink 2017-2023. 83-85
  • 2012 Deep and saturated looking; earthy blackcurrant tones; some spice; good solid aromatic profile; attractive fruit on the palate; nicely handled in the cellar; full and tasty. This is an excellent showing and has lots of flesh for the vintage. Drink now-2025. 89+ UGC Oct ’14 [Earlier note] Dark and deep; nice purity of fruit, Cabernet but ripe; some tightness on the palate; lean and lacks mid palate richness. Should meld but dry finish. 84-86 UGC Tuesday April 9 2013
  • 2011 Deep and dense; earthy, mealy note with a little walnut; chunky fruit on the palate with some life; little tannic and chewy. Earthy style. Not the best of the recent wines here. Drink 2015-2025. 84 Tasted Oct ’13 UGCB London [Earlier note] Dense at the centre; red fruits, satiny, elegant; lots of ripe Merlot; quite complex and deep; satisfying nose; minerals and wet rock notes; oak on the palate, feels quite dense and dry but plenty of fruit here suggests that this will round out but probably a bit over-extracted here. Tasted UGC. 85-87? UGCB Primeurs April 2012
  • 2010 Mid depth; glossy; red fruits, some wet rock and chalky qualities; spice and earth with blackcurrant highlights; blackcurrant fruit again on the palate, earthy notes and quite lot of oak here too. Bags of guts – lots of chewy material. Will need 5 years to meld and last a while. Good value as ever. 88+ UGC Nov ’12 [Earlier Primeurs note] 2010 Deep; less saturated than some; more strawberry notes and mineral and wet rocks; palate sweet entry and has depth here; ripe fruit and open. This should be good. Chewy, dense and grippy but has flesh. Sappy and concentrated. 87-89+/100 Tasted 5 April 2011 at UGC [Second tasting] Mid depth, saturated; some cream and blackcurrants, quite fresh and deep, ripe Merlot here on the nose; strawberry fruit too; dense with some life; dense and also grippy but I feel this will come good and is reasonably well balanced. Chocolate and coffee on the finish. 86-88+/100 Tasted  7 April 2011 at UGC
  • 2009 Mid red; thick, ripe and intense; minerals and wet rocks; blackcurrants and leather on palate with some minerals. This works well with lots of spicy, blackcurrant fruit. 89+/100 UGC Oct ’11 [Earlier Primeurs note] 2009 Deep colour, tight to rim; Ripe and pretty nose, really very good, wonderfully attractive nose with depth; palate concentrated and ripe with extract and tannin, blackcurrants and mocha. Very good, very fresh and with length. Terrific effort 88-90+/100 Tasted 30th March 2010.
  • 2008 Deep and dense; some strawberry and resin, some chocolate; reasonable density on the palate, sturdy, extract, soe earth and tannin, grippy and tannic overall but also with extract and fruit and some tobacco notes mixed in. Good 86+/100 UGC Oct ‘10
  • 1996 Mid red; some tinges of mahogany at edge; attractive soft nose of tobacco, beef and savoury notes. Quite elegant and light toned and lacks intensity but quite charming and enjoyable with a soft palate and ripe tannins. Earthy Graves like quality to it and not at all austere as you may expect a Moulis from this year. 86/100

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