Chateau de Sales 2018
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Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling - Decanter
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Château de Sales, the first wine of the estate, embodies the complexity and refinement of its terroir. A wine to be aged, it is made from rigorously selected grapes with a majority of Merlot. Château de Sales is matured for 12 months in oak barrels, 15-20% of which are renewed each year. The wines are bottled at the Château about 18 months after the harvest.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 De Sales rocks up with expressive blackberries and black cherries notes with an undercurrent of tilled soil, truffles and mossy bark. Medium to full-bodied, it has a solid structure of ripe, rounded tannins and impressive freshness, finishing with bright black fruit layers.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
James Suckling
A soft, juicy red with a creamy texture to the tannins. Berry, cherry, light cedar and almond flavors. Pretty and balanced. Try after 2024.
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Decanter
Technical director Vincent Montigaud has managed this vintage well, making an accessible Sales that has fairly full-on tannins at this early stage, with traces of bitterness through the finish, but met step for step by blueberry and cassis fruits. Drinking Window 2023 - 2036
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Built in the 17th century, Chateau de Sales is largest estate in the Pomerol appellation on the Right Bank. The chateau possesses exceptional beauty and elegance, and the same is true for its wines as they are the true expression of the Pomerol terroir from which they originate. Located in the northwest corner of Pomerol, it is the only true chateau building in the appellation and has been owned by the same family for more than five hundred years. Chateau de Sales wines are the expression of their terroir: fruit-driven, round and full-bodied, with good structure on the palate, smoothness, refinement and elegance.
Located 22 miles east of Bordeaux, the vineyard of Chateau de Sales is situated in the northwestern part of the Pomerol appellation. The chateau's vineyard has a surface area of over 200 acres, of which 118 acres are planted — the largest in Pomerol. The soils of Chateau de Sales are comprised of fine gravel and sand, with clay in some areas and an omnipresence of iron oxide, known as "crasse de fer."
The vines are an average of more than 30 years old. The grape varieties planted here are typical of this appellation: 73% merlot, 15% cabernet sauvignon and 12% cabernet franc. The vines are cultivated in the traditional way: the soil is regularly ploughed, vineyard practices are environmentally sound, leaves are removed with clusters thinned at regular intervals, and the grapes are harvested by hand at optimum maturity for each parcel.