Wine Advisor
Rouget 2016
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2016 Rouget was showing a lot of opulence and decadence on the nose with layers of ripe blueberry and crème de cassis scents. The palate is sweet and slightly bitter on the entry. Plenty of saturated tannin here and very structured, but this Rouget needs more freshness and tension towards the finish. It is an ambitious Pomerol for sure, but it seems to be pushing down too hard on the accelerator. I tasted this Rouget three or four times just seeking a sample that articulated the terroir with a little more clarity. Let's see how it performs once in bottle.
Reviewed by: Lisa Perrotti-Brown
The 2016 Rouget is deep garnet-purple colored with baked plums, dried mulberries, tobacco and crushed rocks scents with wafts of beef drippings and Indian spices plus bay leaves hints. Medium to full-bodied, firm, grainy and laden with earthy layers, it has a savory finish.
About the Producer
Chateau Rouget, located in the Pomerol region of Bordeaux, France, is one of the oldest star wineries in the region. The history of Redfish Winery dates back to the 18th century. At that time, Redfish was owned by the Bayonne family and continued to grow under the management of the Bayonne family. By the 19th century, the winery was known as one of the five most outstanding wineries in the Pomerol region. In 1892, the Dupuy family acquired Redfish, which was subsequently acquired by Marcel Bertrand. After several twists and turns, the development of Red Fish Winery has also experienced slippage and stagnation. By 1992, the direct descendants of Marcel Bertrand had sold Redfish to the Labruyere family, a famous Burgundy winemaking family that also owned The famous Domaine Jacques Prieur. After the Labouille family took over the Redfish family, they spent a lot of energy to improve and renovate the Redfish winery, dedicated to restoring the winery to its former glory and building it into a wine leader on the right bank of Bordeaux. Redfish's vineyards are located in the northern part of the Pomerol appellation, near Chateau L'Eglise Clinet and Chateau La Croix de Gay. After the expansion of the Labouille family, Redfish now has a total of 18 hectares of vineyards and is one of the largest wineries in the Pomerol region. Redfish's vineyards are planted with 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc, with approximately 6,000 vines per hectare with an average age of 28 years. The soils in the vineyards of Redfish are dominated by gravel and loam, which are rich in iron and are very suitable for the growth of these grape varieties. After taking over Redfish Winery, the Labuille family not only expanded the area of the winery’s vineyards, but also equipped the winery with a series of modern winemaking equipment and established a modern wine cellar; at the same time, Redfish Winery also In 1997, the famous wine master Michel Rolland was hired as the winemaking consultant of the winery, which made Redfish Winery even more powerful and its winemaking ability was greatly improved. In the production of wine, Redfish Winery uses large wooden barrels of 5,000-6,000 liters and temperature-controlled stainless steel barrels. The wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in oak barrels, after which the fermented wine is aged in 50% new French oak barrels for 15-18 months. Currently, Château de la Rouge produces about 6,500 cases of wine per year, mainly including the original Red Fish dry red series and the second red fish dry red series (Vieux Chateau des Templiers, which was sold as Le Clocher de Rouget). These wines are rich in fruit aroma, rich in taste, delicate and silky tannins, and have good cellaring ability.
