Cruzelles 2021 (750ML)

93 AG / 91 VM / 91 JA / 89-91 WA

The 2021 Les Cruzelles is just as impressive as it was en primeur. The blend is 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc, with the Franc very much front and center. Dried herbs, tobacco, cedar, new leather, menthol and licorice race across the palate. Deep and layered, with tons of dynamic energy, the 2021 is impeccably done. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

The 2021 Les Cruzelles has an attractive nose, the addition of the Cabernet Franc usually used in La Chenade imparting greater complexity: mainly black fruit, tar and graphite, with more red plum and mocha notes percolating through with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a fine-boned entry and good acidity. Harmonious, with admirable weight on the finish endowed with a touch of sour cherry, this constitutes an elegant and poised Les Cruzelles that will mature well in bottle. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

Gunsmoke reduction, clears quickly, and this is a successful interpretation of the vintage, with cooling and precise savoury blue fruits, and a whisp of violet aromatics. Fine tannins, well balanced, working with an unsual blend because higher levels of Cabernet Franc than normal. 45hl/h yields from early-ripening terroir. Look out for it. Harvest September 23 to 30. - Jane Anston, Inside Bordeaux

The 2021 Les Cruzelles is showing considerable promise, wafting from the glass with aromas of plums, sweet spices, wild berries and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, layered and impressively deep and concentrated, with lively acids and a saline finish, it's a terrific effort and as usual a benchmark for what is possible in Lalande-de-Pomerol. The 2021 is a blend of 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate