Chateau Duhart-Milon, Pauillac, Bordeaux 2020

“The most underrated wine in the Lafite stable these days has put in another strong performance with the 2020 Duhart-Milon, as this somewhat cooler, later-ripening site is well adapted to warmer vintages. Unfurling to reveal aromas of cassis, plums, cigar wrapper, loamy soil and violets, it’s medium to full-bodied, broad and layered, with polished tannins, terrific depth at the core and a long, sapid finish.”-94WA, 2025-2050

Château Duhart-Milon is a neighboring property of Château Lafite Rothschild and was acquired by Domaines Barons de Rothschild Lafite in 1962. Oral tradition presents “Sieur Duhart” as a privateer of Louis XV who settled in Pauillac in his retirement and whose house on the port of Pauillac inspired the label of Duhart-Milon wines. The 1855 classification elevated Château Duhart-Milon to the rank of the only 4th Grand Cru Classé in the commune of Pauillac.

Located in the north of the Pauillac appellation, the vineyard of Château Duhart-Milon is set against an area of over 100 hectares of marshes, meadows, and woods. It has quite an unusual location in the Médoc. It covers 76 hectares, almost in one block on the western side of Château Lafite Rothschild, on the Milon hillside which extends the plateau of Carruades de Lafite. Its sandy gravel soils, deposited in the Quaternary period, contain variable levels of pebbles, sand, and clay. The largest terroirs of Duhart-Milon have mostly gravel soil with 10%+ of clay content. The grape varieties are divided between Cabernet Sauvignon (67%) and Merlot (33%).