Ch. Duhart-Milon
4th Growth Grand Cru Classe
Pauillac
2009

The producer

Owned by Domaines Barons de Rothschild (also owners of Chateau Lafite Rothschild) since 1962, Duhart Milon’s vineyard almost double in size, in the period leading up to the change of the century, and major investment and renovations took place following the change of ownership. Duhart Milon neighbours Lafite-Rothschild to the west, thus being further away from the Gironde River, it produces a rich and solid wine based on about 80% Cabernet Sauvignon with the balance being Merlot.

It’s hard living in the shadow of one of the First Growths but further improvements since the turn of the century have lifted Duhart Milon’s wines, adding richness and depth to the palate, and refining the tannins, and the chateau is now at the peak of its quality.

This is very good Bordeaux at an agreeable price.

The wine

Located just west of first growth Lafite-Rothschild in the north of Pauillac, Duhart Milon is often referred to as the “baby-Lafite”. Composed of a minimum 75% of Cabernet Sauvignon, complemented with Merlot, the Grand Vin is fermented parcel by parcel in stainless steel tanks and then aged in oak barrels, half of which are new, for 14 months. Approachable in its youth – yet with the ageing potential of a couple of decades in the best vintages – Duhart Milon shows concentrated black fruits with hints of spice, silky tannins, and a firm mineral texture. This is classy Bordeaux at an agreeable price.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.