Chateau Batailley 5eme Cru Classe 2016

Chateau Batailley 5eme Cru Classe, Pauillac, Bordeaux, France, 2016  

Located to the west of Mouton Rothschild, Batailley is a typical, Cabernet forward wine with a pronounced flavour of cassis. It's owned by the Castéja and Borie-Manoux families. The property has 57ha of vines which average 40 years of age. The wine are barrique aged for 18 months with 55% of the wood being new. 2016 was an extraordinary vintage throughout Bordeaux.

"The 2016 Batailley is a blend of 12% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, 85% Cabernet Sauvignon cropped at 50h hectoliters per hectare. Matured in 60% new oak. It has an intense graphite infused bouquet with fine delineation, some freshly picked Pauillac mint coming through with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannin that grip the mouth insistently; with graphite and tobacco-infused black fruit dominating, this a classically styled Batailley in the vein of previous vintages with the elegance coming through towards the finish. This is one of those wines that grows on you, perhaps not as easy or as charming to taste as other Pauillac 2016s at this stage, but knowing this property well, I know how it can blossom when it matters, which is when you and I drink it."

(93-95/100) points, Neal Martin, Wine Advocate, April 2017 

"Made by Borie and bottled by Cazes (ownership of this property transferred from the Borie family to the Cazes family in 2017). Never released en primeur.
Tasted blind: (First bottle oxidised). Second bottle: Smooth and very polished. Drawing-room wine. Polished to within an inch of its life – very effectively! Attractive stuff for relatively early drinking"

17.5/20 points, Jancis Robinson, jancisRobinson.com, January 2020