90pts Jane Anson
Enticing aromatics, clean and fruity, a wash of spicy cloves against bright juicy fruits of blueberrry and raspberry. This is attractive and easy to recommend, has persistency also. Biodynamic. No frost at this location in St Seurin de Cadourne, next to Sociando Mallet. Valerie Liquard owner. Hubert de Bouard wine consultant (Liquard has just bought the majority shares in de Bouard's Fleur de Bouard in Pomerol).
90pts Decanter
Fully expressive on the nose, richly scented and fruit forward. Beautiful expression here, you get that lightly framed palate in terms of weight with such clarity of strawberry and raspberry fruit - piercing from the acidity almost but it's reigned in by the texture and hefty grip of the fine stone tannins and the more savoury elements of bitter black chocolate, liquorice and vanilla that balance out all the elements. Precision, refinement and character. A delicious wine this year that will soften and continue to give over ageing. Easy pleasure.
90pts Vinous
The 2021 Charmail, which lies next to Sociando-Mallet and expanded after the new owners bought two parcels, has a composed and focused bouquet with blackberry, wild strawberry and light floral scents. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, well balanced and quite elegant, with a poised and prolonged finish. This punches well above its weight. Delicious.
89-90pts James Suckling
Some juicy fruit with berries and currants on the center-palate, together with fine tannins. Savory.
History
Charmail takes its name from its history that dates back to the 16th century, namely the Trevey family of Charmail who settled at that time in the Médoc. Built in the middle of the 19th century, Chateau Charmail commands a charming estate overlooking the Gironde on the northern side of Saint-Estephe. Surrounding the chateau, the vineyard is all of a piece, situated on gravel crests and at present covers some twenty-eight hectares. It is planted to Cabernet franc and Cabernet-Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot.
The owner Bernard d'Halluin strives to create wines of balance, and since 2017 has HVE3 certification for sustainability. Winemaking is performed by the former owner, Olivier Sèze, a trained agronomist, well-versed in the latest enological methods. Sèze has be-come a veritable pioneer ("maverick" might be the more accurate term) in the Médoc. Since 1991, his successful development of the technique called, "pre-fermentation, cold maceration" has roused interest through-out the Médoc, in Saint-Emilion, and even at the Institute of Enology in Bordeaux. The technique is similar to that widely employed by the Burgundian enologist, Guy Accad, although much less sulfur dioxide is used at Charmail. It results in deeply colored, "fatter" wines with softer tannins than might otherwise be the case using traditional fermentation techniques.
