Robert Parker's Wine Advocate : The 2016 Monbousquet is a blend of 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon cropped at 38 hectoliters per hectare at 14.46% alcohol. It was picked between 6-11 October and matured in 70% new oak, the remainder one-year-old barrels. It offers an opulent but well defined bouquet of black cherries, violets and fresh fig, a little tight initially but soon unfolding in the glass. The palate is quite rich and generous on the opening with layers of blackberry and raspberry laced with graphite and a pinch of cracked black pepper. It tapers in a little towards the finish, completing a bold and assertive Monbousquet that is likely to require four or five years in bottle in order to soften those tannins. Interestingly, the sample tasted at Pavie was a little more flamboyant than the more classically styled one that I tasted elsewhere and preferred. Drink Date 2022 - 2045
