The Wine Advocate | RP 93
Published: Jun 29, 2015

This property, which has benefitted enormously from tremendous investments from the Rothschild family that owns Lafite, has turned out a dense purple-colored wine in 2005. Offering broad, expansive, supple and silky tannin as well as loads of Asian plum sauce, blackcurrants, and sweet cherries, this wine is seductive, medium to full-bodied, and luscious. This successful effort from the Rothschilds should continue to drink well for at least another two decades.
Drink Date: 2015 - 2035

Lafite.com

The vintage

The weather in 2005 was atypical, marked by drought and with a rainfall deficit over the year of more than 300m (500mm instead of the usual 850mm). The drought began very early, at the end of May, allowing the vine to adapt itself by reducing its leaves. The very hot weather in June and July gave way to progressively cooler weather in August and the cool nights allowed good acidity levels to be maintained, resulting in slow steady ripening. Ideal conditions for healthy, fresh and very ripe grapes.
Harvests took place from 25 September to 12 October in very good conditions

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. Following this rigorous selection, the wine is blended and transferred to oak barrels (50% new).
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.

Grapes
71 % Cabernet sauvignon 29 % Merlot

Tasting
Attractive dense, deep colour. Fruity, tannic, ample, precise and long on the palate. A very seductive wine, both dense and smooth.