Wine Advisor
Roc de Cambes 2016
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2016 Roc de Cambes has turned out beautifully, unwinding in the glass with rich aromas of cassis and cherries mingled with a rich patina of dark chocolate, spices and cigar wrapper. Full-bodied, deep and muscular, its ample, concentrated core is framed by powdery tannins and impressively lively acids. While it's unavoidably marked by its time in 100% new wood, it's the best integrated "great" vintage of Roc de Cambes I can remember tasting at such an early stage. Include it in a blind tasting a decade from now and watch it slay plenty of heavyweight Right Bank names.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2016 Roc de Cambes is a blend 20% Malbec, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 65% Merlot picked on 11 and 12 October, except the Cabernet was picked on 19 October, and matured in 100% new oak. It has a rich and opulent bouquet with black cherries, kirsch, touches of fresh fig and desiccated orange peel. The palate is sweet on the entry with a lot of sucrose-like texture, almost sorbet-like with blood orange infusing the red berry fruit. There is good structure here, plenty of fruit, much more primal than many of its peers. This was a sample that was difficult to read, so I will reserve judgement until later.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2016 Domaine des Cambes is just as delicious from bottle as it was from barrel. Sumptuous and super-expressive, the 2016 is a beautifully forward, inviting wine. Dark cherry, plum, mocha and licorice are all generous in the glass, while there is more than enough underlying structure to support a number of years of very fine drinking. This is a lovely, and frankly irresistible, Côtes de Bordeaux from the Mitjavile family.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2016 Domaine des Cambes is rich, sumptuous and beautiful, all qualities that readers will be able to enjoy pretty much as soon as the wine is released. Super-ripe, dark and racy, it captures the more overt side of the vintage. A wine of exotic ripeness and intensity, the 2016 is gorgeous today. A rush of black cherry, plum, menthol and licorice infuses this expressive Côtes de Bordeaux from the Mitjaville family.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2016 Domaine des Cambes, made by François Mitjavile of Tertre-Rôteboeuf, has a pure, cassis- and blueberry-scented bouquet that reveals top notes of crushed violet petals and even a hint of ink. The palate is silky-smooth with fine tannin and lightly spiced with a dash of white pepper. The cohesive backbone is deeply impressive. Gentle but insistent in terms of grip, leading to a very fresh finish. This Domaine des Cambes really is superb, and it will offer much drinking pleasure over the next decade.
About the Producer
This is his property in the Côtes de Bourg, a vineyard reminiscent of Tertre Roteboeuf, being as it is, a natural amphitheatre with a perfect aspect overlooking the Gironde River. It comprises fourteen hectares of old vines planted on the most highly reputed slope of the Côtes (les Croutes), where the heat of the sun on the slope is regulated by the effects of the estuary and cool clay/limestone soils. This makes for regular growth and wonderfully ripe, concentrated fruit. Essentially François Mitjavile’s approach was to coax optimal quality in a region with great, but often unrealised, potential. He made Roc de Cambes flourish. With his son Louis (now owner of L’Aurage) and his daughter Nina (increasingly at the helm) his experience and philosophy from St Emilion come into play here. Together they control vigour and pick only when the grapes are super-ripe. They have succeeded in creating a wine which has led to many an embarrassing moment at blind tastings when compared to received “great” wines, first growths included. Roc de Cambes has a wow factor in spades.
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