Quintus 2018 (750ML)

97 JS / 96 JD / 95 WCI / 94+ WA / 94 DE / 94 FS / 17 JR

#14 out of 48 in the Saint Emilion Oswald's Blind Tasting, London 2022 featuring 2011-2018 Angelus, Ausone, Cheval Blanc, Figeac, Pavie, Quintus

A wine with wonderful clarity of fruit and firm, creamy and polished tannins. So intense and powerful. Layers of fruit and tannins intertwined. Lovely blackberry, black cherry, cedar and sandalwood. Mushroom and bark undertones. One of the best from here. Try after 2027. - James Suckling

The flagship 2018 Château Quintus is on another level, offering a gorgeous nose of black raspberries, cassis, spicy oak, chocolate, graphite, and camphor. It has plenty of background oak, yet the texture is brilliant, it's full-bodied, has no hard edges, and delivers just a wonderful sense of purity and elegance. It's the finest vintage to date for this estate. Give bottles 3-4 years and enjoy over the following two decades. - Jeb Dunnuck

Flowers, spice, licorice and ripe, red fruits are all over the place. The wine somehow manages to balance elegance with high ABV as this does perfectly. Sweet, long and intense, with a beautiful purity to all the red fruits, the finish lingers, expands and frankly, just feels great on your palate. The wine was made using 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, 15.2 ABV.-Jeff Leve, Wine Cellar Insider

Dark ruby with purple reflections, brightening at the rim. Floral notes are underlaid with hints of liquorice and elderberries, subtle savoury oak, and peppery nuances. Powerful, but fruity and silky in texture, with perfect tannin ripeness, fine structure, and savoury minerality. A delicate food wine with very good length.-Peter Moser, Falstaff

A blend of 72.3% Merlot and 27.7% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Quintus is deep garnet-purple in color, bursting from the glass with rambunctious scents of stewed black plums, boysenberries, dried mulberries and Christmas pudding, plus suggestions of sandalwood, cinnamon stick, potpourri and oolong tea. Full-bodied, rich and voluptuously fruited in the mouth, it counters all that fruit with alluring exotic spice and floral accents, supported by plush tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and fragrant. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Advocate

This has heft and texture, and is rippling with concentrated blueberry and blackberry fruits. The toasted oak is a little dominant but this is still extremely young, and needs time to settle and begin to open up. Confident winemaking. A yield of 41.1hl/ha.Drinking Window 2026 - 2042  - Jane Anson, Decanter

Tasted blind. Light nose of rose petals. Sweet start and then some dryness on the end. Interesting and distinctive. Definitely sets out to charm.-Jancis Robinson