(a blend of 65% merlot, 25% cabernet sauvig non, 7% petit verdot and 3% carmenere; aging in 30% new oak) Bright ruby-red. Coolish aromas of raspberry, black cherry and cocoa. Supple, fresh and fruit-driven, with enticing floral lift to the pliant red fruit flavors. Finishes with ripe tannins and a strong suggestion of floral merlot. Ripe but not exaggerated.

Tasted at Chateau Ausone. This has a lifted bouquet of red-berried fruit, with notes of redcurrant and cranberry, a touch of tobacco, perhaps just a little pinched compared with recent samples at this nascent stage. The palate is medium-bodied, soft on the entry, dried herbs inflecting the brambly red-berried fruit, leading to a dry, quite foursquare finish. To be honest, I was expecting just a little more. Tasted March 2010.