Le Dôme - Bordeaux St.-Emilion 2018 (750ml)
Price: $220.00
Sale Price: $169.00
| Producer | Le Dôme |
| Country | France |
| Region | Bordeaux |
| Subregion | St.-Emilion |
| Varietal | Bordeaux Blend |
| Vintage | 2018 |
| Sku | 11769 |
| Size | 750ml |
Decanter: 97 Points
With high expectations that this will be classified at the next round in 2022, and the new winery by Sir Norman Foster nearly completed, it's fair to say that this is a good moment for Le Dôme. The high Cabernet Franc percentage makes its presence felt, and I suggset giving it the full 10 year ageing to really reveal all the nuances, but there is plenty to admire even at this early stage. You feel the grip and the verticality as it moves through the palate, and there is a lovely smoke, flinty edge that is coming to the fore alongisde the anis, clove and marzipan notes now the wine is in bottle. Imposing, as Le Dôme always is, with real presence and character. 80% new oak for malo and maturation. 3.82pH.
The Wine Cellar Insider: 97 Points
Dark in color, the wine balances power with intensity. You find layers of richness, fruit, crushed rocks, stone, burnt caramel, espresso, ripe, lush plums, thyme and spice in every sniff, swallow and sip. The wine fills your palate while offering balance, complexity and a long, fruit-filled finish. Created from 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot,
Wine Independent Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW: 97 Points
The 2018 Le Dome is composed of 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot. Deep purple-black in color, it needs considerable swirling to unlock notes of wild blueberries, black raspberries, and chocolate box with touches of rosehip tea, aniseed, and candied violets. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has beautiful freshness and very fine-grained tannins supporting the expressive blue and black fruit layers, finishing very long and fragrant.
Wine Enthusiast: 97 Points
A wine that celebrates Cabernet Franc, this comes from a parcel on the lower slope of Saint-Émilion. Its perfumed richness is profound and dense in structured black fruits. Old vines give concentration and add to the great power behind it all. This is a wine to age; drink from 2026.
Jeb Dunnuck: 97+ Points
While I don't think the 2018 Le Dôme hits the same heights as the 2010 or the 2016, it's nevertheless a beautiful wine in every sense. Based off 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot brought up in the usual 80% new barrels, it's a full-bodied, beautifully textured, seamless Cabernet Franc with loads of red currant, blueberry, and mulberry fruit as well as notes of cedary herbs, flowers, camphor, and new saddle leather. Always a singular, distinct wine given its high percentage of Cabernet Franc, it's brilliantly concentrated and has ultra-fine tannins as well as a great finish. Haut Couture at its finest, it's going to benefit from 4-6 years of bottle age, and I suspect, keep for 30 years or more.
Wine Advocate: 97+ Points
Le Dome is from the JCP Maltus portfolio of skillfully crafted Saint-Émilion wines. Neil White is the head winemaker and Thomas Duclos is a consultant here. The 2018 Le Dome is composed of 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot, with a 3.82 pH and 14.3% alcohol. Deep garnet-purple colored, it is a little coy in the beginning, requiring considerable coaxing to allow fragrant earth, rose hip tea, preserved plums and raspberry pie notions to emerge, giving way to notes of pencil shavings, woodsmoke and camphor. Full-bodied, firm and finely grained, the profound palate is sparked by energetic mineral and red fruit notes, framed by firm, fine-grained tannins and just enough acidity to lift the very long, very fragrant finish. 97-99
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