Clos de Sarpe (Futures Pre-Sale) 2021

Professional Ratings

• 94 Jeb Dunnuck
  I continue to love the wines from this estate, and while older vintages were powerful and rustic, that's not the case today. These wines always shine for their purity while still bringing lots of fruit and depth. The 2021 Château Clos de Sarpe is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc that hit 14% alcohol and is currently resting in 70% new French oak. Medium to full-bodied, ripe, and textured, especially in the vintage, it has terrific blue fruits, notes of iron, chalky mineral, and chocolate, ripe tannins, and a great mid-palate as well as finish. It's well worth seeking out, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it turn out to be one of the longer-lived wines in the vintage.
  Barrel Sample: 92-94+
• 93 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  The 2021 Clos de Sarpe has turned out very nicely in bottle, offering up aromas of dark berries, spices, sweet soil tones and bay leaf, followed by a medium to full-bodied, layered and seamless palate with good depth of fruit, racy acids and impressively suave, polished tannins. By the standards of this site, the 2021 will be unusually approachable out of the gates.
• 93 James Suckling
  A juicy and fruit red with lots of plum, berry and some cherry aromas and flavors. Medium body with round, creamy tannins, yet it remains elegant and bright.
  Barrel Sample: 92-93
• 91 Decanter
  Richly fruited and driving with high acidity and such lifted brightness. A burst of mouthwatering red berry fruit, pink floral touches and graphite on the palate which sustains a mid palate in terms of continuation of flavour and density of tannins, though they are fine and powdery. It's lightly framed no doubt, but they haven't pushed too hard here, letting the vintage shine through harmoniously and the overall concentration and drive suggests this will further round out over ageing. A fun, playful and promising wine.
  Barrel Sample: 91