On April 28th/12, the Vintages released 2009 Château Des Moines, however portion of the batch contained bottles that were labelled as the 2008 vintage. I purchased two bottles of the 2008 vintage, and since it is not clear whether it is actually the 2008 vintage or mislabelled 2009 vintage (personal conversation with an LCBO product consultant), I therefore review it under both vintages.
The 2008 Château Des Moines (on the label) is composed of 72% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 3% Malbec (same as 2009) and was aged for 12 months in oak barrels. It is a medium bodied, integrated wine, with intense aromas of red berries, dark chocolate, oak and vanilla on the nose; and green red currant, vanilla and coconut on the palate. It has a good structure with nice acidity, refined tannins (decant for 30 min) and a long finish. Drink now or hold for the next 10 years. My impression: BEAUTIFUL, 91-92 pts - I would highly recommend it if it was still available, though there is a possibility of a re-release in the near future. Aug/12.
See my wine recommendations readily available at the LCBO here:
www.GrapeSelections.com
or here @
http://www.winealign.com/wino/dantrcka/recommended-wines-you-can-still-buy
This has a burnt coffee taste that reminds me more of Tuscany than Bordeaux. The flavour grows with every sip, along with the wonderful long finish. I love it.
Good, very soft on tanins, but a little disappointing on the nose.
86-87
Green, green, green and more green.
Full-on green-pepper nose pretty much overpowered it's fruit and wood.
Same on the palate: green, vegetal flavours battled medium bodied fruit, some vanilla/oak and youthful taninns.
I guess you could put it away for a while to integrate a bit but that ain't gonna help much.
Overall I felt this was a Bordeaux that smells and tastes unripe.
Drinkable but instantly disappointing.