This is the best Quinault ever for me with beautiful density and depth of fruit. Full body, velvety tannins and a long and intense finish. Lots of fruit, but the tannins hold it together. - jamessuckling.com, April 2019

Quinault l'Enclos comes from off a very gravelly soil with great drainage, but there's not a lot of water during dry periods. Adeptly produced by the team of Cheval Blanc (who purchased the estate in 2008), the wine nonetheless maintained its poise under the dry and warm ripening conditions of 2018, coming in at a respectable pH of 3.67 and relatively moderate alcohol of 14.1%. The 2018 Quinault l'Enclos has a deep garnet-purple color and beautifully expressed notes of baked black cherries, ripe black plums and boysenberries, plus hints of violets, dark chocolate, star anise and tobacco leaf. The medium-bodied palate has a gorgeous velvety texture and oodles of freshness supporting the perfumed black fruits, finishing long and fragrant. This vintage is a blend of 70% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc, aged in 50% new oak and the rest in one-year-old 500-liter barrels and foudres. It is tempting to drink this right now, but give it two years in the cellar for full impact and enjoy it over the next 17+ years.

Coming from the team at Cheval Blanc and up with the finest vintages I’ve tasted of this cuvée, the 2018 Château Quinault L'Enclos comes from a vineyard near Libourne and is 70% Merlot and 15% each of Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s an elegant, silky wine that has terrific complexity and purity as well as medium to full-bodied richness, a concentrated mid-palate, moderate tannins, and an overall balanced, silky style that’s going to drink nicely in its youth yet also evolve gracefully. - jebdunnuck.com, May 2019

This a very gravelly soil with great drainage, but not a lot of water during dry periods. Adeptly produced by the team of Cheval Blanc (who purchased the estate in 2008), the wine nonetheless maintained its poise under the dry, warm ripening conditions of 2018, coming in at a respectable pH of 3.67 and relatively moderate alcohol of 14.1%. The 2018 Quinault l'Enclos is blended of 70% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Cabernet Franc with 50% new oak and the rest in one-year-old barrels—but only 500-liter and foudres. Deep purple-black in color, it slips seductively out of the glass with notions of warm plums, blueberry preserves and mulberries with touches of spice box, tilled soil, black olives and licorice plus a waft of lavender. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is laden with muscular black fruit and licorice sparks, framed by rounded tannins and just enough freshness, finishing with a peppery kick. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, April 2019, The Wine Advocate

Pretty, ripe and pure black fruit nose with a touch of spice. Very fine with good complexity already, mixing spice, creaminess and elegance. Impressive concentration. - April 2019

Deep cherry red. Totally inviting stony/dusty refined black fruit with pencil shavings. Purissimo. Dark, elegant, in a pin-striped suit, long and slim and so fresh and with great finesse and suppleness in the tannins that are so fine you barely feel them, though you know there are plenty of them. Approachable now but likely to relax and open. Best Quinault L'Enclos I have tasted. - Julia Harding, jancisrobinson.com, April 2019

70% Merlot, 30% Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc. Around 20% new 400-litre barrels. Baked fruit, with well-defined plum flavour. Dark and savoury on the palate, chocolate and a bit of violet. Succulent tannins that are ready to drink now. Bitter black-olive finish. Admirable classicism. (RH)