Berliquet 2021 (750ML)

93 WA / 93 JD / 93 JS / 93 AG / 93 JA / 93 DE / 93 WI / 93 WCI / 91 VM / 16 JR

Wine Advocate Sleepers of the Vintage

The 2021 Berliquet is showing very well in bottle, wafting from the glass with notes of sweet wild berries, plums and rose petals, framed by subtle hints of licorice and vanilla pod. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and seamless, it's suave and sensual, with a fleshy core of fruit, ultra-refined tannins and a pure, perfumed, mineral finish. This seamless, charming Saint-Émilion will offer a broad drinking window. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate

I was able to taste the 2021 Château Berliquet on multiple occasions, and it always rated between 92 and 94 points. A blend of 61% Merlot and 39% Cabernet Franc raised in 44% new oak, it's a bigger, richer wine than its neighbor Canon but also doesn't display quite the precision and purity. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful wine offering medium-bodied aromas and flavors of black cherries, smoked tobacco, damp earth, and graphite. It's balanced, has ripe, velvety tannins, and the fresher, focused style of the vintage. It's a 2021 well worth your time and money, and it's going to be a brilliant value as well. This checks in at a solid 13.5% alcohol and a pH of 3.41.-Jeb Dunnuck

Fragrant nose of cloves, dark berry fruit, orange zest and dried flowers. It’s bright, precise and crunchy, with a medium body, firm yet fine-grained tannins and a zesty, long finish. Drink from 2025. - James Suckling

The 2021 Berliquet is every bit as impressive as it was en primeur. A wine of substance and depth, the 2021 possesses notable complexity and limestone-driven intensity. As always, Berliquet is a bit chunky in feel, but the team here, led by Nicolas Berliquet, is doing important work in taming the tannins and giving the wine greater finesse. The direction here is quite positive. The 2021 has been impressive each of the three times I have tasted it so far. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

An attractive bright purple colour with violet rim, and warming fruit aromatics, touches of cloves. This is impressive, with a lovely sense of lift and freshness, and beautifully placed raspberry, blackberry and redcurrant fruits. A little bulkier than its sibling estate Canon, slightly more angular tannins in this vintage, but still with the juicy fingerprint of limestone. First year of organic conversion, with certification expected 2024. 44% new oak, plus four amphora. 30hl/h yield, 3.41ph. Clay-limestone plateau, next to Canon but with slightly cooler, more powerful soils. Tasted twice. Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

Lovely aromatics on the nose of ripe blackcurrant and black cherry with some creamy elements. Concentrated and driving on the palate with lively acidity and a well balanced density for the vintage in the grippy but chewy tannins, fresh blackcurrant and bramble fruits and such precision of elements. Everything feels well worked, refined and well presented with freshness and sense of energy all the way through. It's not the most layered at this point, quite linear with tension but excellently executed. A very classy wine and one to seek out! An excellent success this year from winemaker Nicolas Audebert and his team. 3.41pH. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter