2021 Château Le Tertre Roteboeuf, Grand Cru St-Emilion

The 2021 Tertre-Rôteboeuf is a dark, sensual wine. Deceptive in its mid-weight feel, the 2021 is wonderfully persistent and nuanced from start to finish. Kirsch, sweet spice, tobacco, mint, dried flowers, mocha, rose petal and cinnamon are all beautifully delineated. The 2021 was bottled just a few months before this tasting. My impression is that it is still recovering from bottle shock. As always, Tertre-Rôteboeuf is distinguished by its thrilling inner perfume, sweetness and overall character.

Never one to shy away from risks, proprietor François Mitjaville opted to encourage the vintage's inherently more evolved style to arrive at its logical conclusion, so he kept his chai at a rather warm 17 degrees Celsius throughout the year. The result is a rather wild, carnal 2021 Le Tertre Roteboeuf that mingles the estate's signatures of rich dark fruits, espresso roast and exotic spices with more savory suggestions of saddle leather and smoked meats. Medium to full-bodied, broad and layered, with supple tannins and the evident ripeness that Mitjaville manages to attain, whatever the vintage, it concludes with a long, meaty finish. I tend to love Tertre Roteboeuf in cooler, more challenging vintages, but the 2021's more animal side disconcerts me.

Never one to shy away from risks, proprietor François Mitjaville opted to encourage the vintage's inherently more evolved style to arrive at its logical conclusion, so he kept his chai at a rather warm 17 degrees Celsius throughout the year. The result is a rather wild, carnal 2021 Le Tertre Roteboeuf that mingles the estate's signatures of rich dark fruits, espresso roast and exotic spices with more savory suggestions of saddle leather and smoked meats. Medium to full-bodied, broad and layered, with supple tannins and the evident ripeness that Mitjaville manages to attain, whatever the vintage, it concludes with a long, meaty finish. I tend to love Tertre Roteboeuf in cooler, more challenging vintages, but the 2021's more animal side disconcerts me.