Chateau D Armailhac 2006

Château D'Armailhac 5eme Grand Cru Classe, Pauillac, Bordeaux, 2006 

Grapes: 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc & 1% Petit Verdot, 76ha vineyard on deep gravel soil, average 40 year old vines (with 60 year old Cab Franc), aged 18 months in French oak barrels

The estate was acquired by Baron Philippe de Rothschild of neighbouring Mouton Rothschild in 1933.

Producer Tasting Note:

2006 promises to be a classic vintage, producing a beautifully coloured wine, deep red, fresh in style and with a well-defined, solid structure. The powerful nose displays a subtle mix of ripe red fruit and the toast and vanilla notes of attractive oak, now beginning to merge into the texture. Château d’Armailhac 2006 shows nice construction on the palate, with a solid attack that leads into a body of good depth and considerable refinement. The tannins are silky, the overall impression one of great class, with attractive fruit set off by subtle oak, building to a long and elegant finish.

Critics' Tasting Notes:

"Tasted at Bordeaux Index's annual 10-Year On tasting in London.The 2006 Château d'Armailhac has a feisty bouquet with tobacco and sage-infused red berry fruit that seem open for business, unlike some of the other 2006 Pauillac wines. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, quite supple tannin. There is good weight in the mouth with mint-infused blackberry fruit, fine structure with admirable precision on the finish. All it lacks is the persistence of some of its peers, yet it still constitutes a very fine Pauillac that I probably under-rated out of barrel. Tasted January 2016."

90/100 points, Neal Martin, robertparker.com, May 2016 

"Medium-bodied, red currant, cedar, herb, leaf oriented wine with a slight rusticity to the tannins with a crisp edge to the red fruits and herbs in the finish along with a touch of dust in the classically-styled backend that is fully ready to go. Drink from 2023-2031.Medium-bodied, red currant, cedar, herb, leaf oriented wine with a slight rusticity to the tannins with a crisp edge to the red fruits and herbs in the finish along with a touch of dust in the classically-styled backend that is fully ready to go. Drink from 2023-2031."

90/100 points, Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider, January 2023