(Château d'Armailhac, Pauillac, Red) Amazingly perfumed and sleek, with vibrant Cabernet Francinfluenced red fruit aromas and flavours. I'd guzzle away without shame. (Drink between 2020-2030)Decanter | 94 DECPlenty of ripe cassis and chocolate with a hint of smoke on the nose lead you into a ripe and velvety Pauillac that now gives a lot of pleasure thanks to the excellent harmony and good length. Drink or hold. (Horizontal Tasting, London, 2019)James Suckling | 93 JSDeliciously fruity, with chocolate notes and acidity. The wine has dense but soft tannins that merge seamlessly into the black fruits. It is ripe, sweet, densely juicy.Wine Enthusiast | 93 WE(Château d’Armailhac) The 2009 d’Armailhac is a very well-made wine this year, but based on the sample at the UGC tasting at Branaire-Ducru, I would have had to give a slight nod to its stable mate, Clerc Milon in ’09. However, a much fresher sample was on display at Mouton-Rothschild as well, and the d’Armailhac is certainly excellent in this vintage. The bouquet is deep, classy and quite extroverted, as it offers up scents of cassis, black cherries, coffee bean, soil , tobacco leaf and nutty new oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, suave and classically proportioned, with beautiful balance and excellent focus and grip on display on the long, ripely tannic finish. This is a very, very good result this year. (Drink between 2018-2040)John Gilman | 90-91 JGThis may be the finest d’Armailhac I have ever tasted. Made in a textured, full-bodied, sumptuous style, it is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and the balance primarily Cabernet Franc with a tiny dosage of Petit Verdot. It exhibits a deep ruby/purple hue along with floral, red and black currant, cedar, and spice characteristics. Deep, medium to full-bodied, and impressively pure as well as long, it should drink well for 25 years. (Tasted three times.)Robert Parker | 90-93 RP(a blend of 60% cabernet sauvignon, 24% merlot, 14% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot; pH 3.78; 13.2% alcohol) Deep red with purple highlights. The pretty, spicy, perfumed aromas of blackcurrants and raspberries leap from the glass. Light and fragrant on the palate, with excellent balance between the lively acids and the pretty red fruit and mineral flavors. This smoothly tannic midweight improves considerably with air, gaining in complexity and finishing with intense, very pure red and black cherry flavors. To my mind, the best Armailhac ever, and one that shows a very recognizable and pristine cabernet franc presence. Readers who enjoy classically styled Bordeaux may want to think about this gloriously restrained and refined wine, which is less obviously ripe than many other '09s and should age spectacularly well.Vinous Media | 90-93 VM
