Château Duhart-Milon
Presentation
The fine wine from Château Duhart-Milon is often described as a classic version of the Pauillac appellation. It has a distinguished and reserved character. The courtier Abraham Lawton noted as early as 1815 that “it has firm taste, a fine colour, and a pronounced sap”.This strong personality of Château Duhart-Milon remains accurate today
The vintage
The vineyard cycle began with a cold, relatively wet winter, resulting in a slightly later bud-break than in 2009, in mid-April. Growth was then boosted by dry, sunny weather in April.
May and June were characterized by alternating periods of rain and sunshine. June began with a cold spell that complicated the flowering of the Merlot, resulting in flower abortion and uneven grape size.
Fortunately, July was very dry (less than 20 mm of rain) with relatively high temperatures, which helped the vines to catch up from the delays caused during flowering.
August and September were very dry, with beautiful daytime temperatures and cool nights creating ideal conditions for the grapes to slowly reach optimum ripeness.
Location
Pauillac is located on the left bank of the Gironde estuary, approximately 40km north of Bordeaux. With the tempering influence of the estuary and a great diversity of soils originating from both the Massif Central and the Pyrenees, Pauillac boasts exceptional climate and geological conditions for the production of outstanding wines.
Terroir
Château Duhart-Milon’s vineyard consists of a single block of vines adjacent to Château Lafite Rothschild, on the hillside to the west of the Carruades plateau. The property has 76 hectares of vines. The soil consists of fine gravel mixed with aeolian sand on a tertiary limestone
Winemaking
Château Duhart-Milon is made according to traditional Bordeaux methods. The grapes are carefully sorted and placed in concrete or stainless-steel vats depending on their provenance for alcoholic fermentation. Gentle pumping over is carried out during fermentation to optimize extraction. Total maceration time is about 20 days before racking. Once the wines have undergone malolactic fermentation, they are transferred to French oak barrels made by the Tonnellerie des Domaines in Pauillac. Each barrel is tasted individually in December in order to determine which ones will be selected for the grand vin. Following this rigorous selection, the wine is blended and transferred to oak barrels (50% new).
Grapes
Tasting
A delicate wine, the initially supple tannins gradually become more powerful. Well-structured on the palate with good density. Precise, fairly full-bodied finish.
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