Wine Advisor
Rouget 2021
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: William Kelley
A blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, the 2021 Rouget offers up aromas of sweet berries, cherries, licorice and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, supple and fleshy, it's impressively concentrated, with fine depth at the core, powdery tannins and lively acids. A success in this challenging vintage, in recent years Rouget has benefited from the acquisition of some small parcels on the plateau (in the Clinet sector and near Le Pin), as well as the relegation of the less propitious parts of its historic vineyard to a second wine. Anyone who has tasted the great Rouget wines of yesteryear such as the famous 1961 will know what this estate is capable of, and the Labruyère family is working hard to realize its potential. Tasted three times.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
An unusually rich, demonstrative wine for the vintage, the 2021 Rouget exhibits aromas of crème de cassis, raspberry liqueur and cherry preserve, framed by toasty oak. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, rich and fleshy, with a sweet, somewhat confectionery core of fruit framed by structuring barrel tannins.
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.
