Description

Red Wine: 2014 | Clos de l’Oratoire | Saint-Emilion Grand Cru

Shows lovely fruit, with waves of blueberry, plum and boysenberry compote rolling over each other.

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Producer: Clos de l’Oratoire

Ratings: WA | 91 JS | 93

Vintage: 2014

Size: 750ml

ABV: 14%

Varietal: Bordeaux Blend Red

Country/Region: France, Bordeaux

Shows lovely fruit, with waves of blueberry, plum and boysenberry compote rolling over each other. The polished structure is well-embedded, while the finish lets a graphite note peek out.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The 2014 Clos l’Oratoire has certainly lost its bashful personality since en primeur, now in bottle, much more exuberant with pure cranberry, boysenberry and orange rind aromas, nicely delineated with impressive intensity. The palate is smooth, almost velvety on the entry, a plush and quite luscious Saint Emilion with impressive volume and presence. It might lack a little delineation, but there is satisfying length as those mulberry and raspberry notes persist and linger long after the wine has departed. This surpasses my expectations.

• James Suckling: This is already really delicious. The black-fruit aromas are really ripe, but theres no hint of jammy stuff. Tastes simultaneously juicy and creamy, and the tannins are so graceful: The wine glides across the palate. If it were more subtle, the score would go even higher.

Producer Information

Clos de l’Oratoire is well-regarded Grand Cru Class wine estate located on the northeast slope of the Saint-milion plateau, just 2km (1.2 miles) northeast of Saint-milion town. The estate is part of the von Neipperg family portfolio of wines which is perhaps best known for its flagship property: Chteau Canon La Gaffelire. What is know Clos de l’Oratoire originally formed part of the wider Chteau Peyreau estate, which neighbors the Clos’ buildings. The sites, which have a history dating back to the 18th Century, were purchased by the von Neipperg family in 1972. Although it was not in the original Saint-milion classification of 1955, Clos de l’Oratoire was named a Grand Cru Class in the 1969 interation (then as “Chteau l’Oratoire”). By the 1986 edition of the classification, the estate was appearing as “Clos de l’Oratoire” and has remained in the Grand Cru Class list ever since. Second-generation family member Stephan von Niepperg now owns and manages the estate. It sits alongside a well-regarded Bordeaux portfolio including Chteau Peyreau itself as well as Canon La Gaffelire, La Mondotte, Clos Marsalette and Chteau d’Aiguilhe. Neighbors to Peyreau and Clos de l’Oratoire include Chteau Dassault to the northwest (Chteau Faurie de Souchard, also part of the Dassault stable, is immediately over the road to the west) while Petit Faurie de Soutard and Chteau Soutard itself lie to the southwest. The Clos de l’Oratoire property covers 13 hectares (32 acres) of vineyard on sandy soils with a clay-limestone-sandstone subsoil known as “Molasse de Fronsadais” or Fronsac molasse. As with many sites in the region, the vineyard here is Merlot dominant with around 80 percent of the vineyard planted to the variety. While originally containing a small portion of Cabernet Sauvignon, these vines have been pulled out and the remaining 20 percent of plantings given over to Cabernet Franc. This proportion is generally reflected in the final wine. Vinification is temperature controlled and whole berries (destemmed but not crushed) are fermented in oak tanks. The tanks are regularly (but gently) plunged during fermentation. The wine goes through malolactic fermentation and aging in oak barrels (of which between 50 and 80 percent are new oak, depending on the vintage). The wine is aged in barrel on its fine lees for 14 to 18 months. Production averages around 2000 cases per year.