2011 Quinault L'Enclos 12 Pack

92 POINTS

James Suckling

A wine with soft, silky tannins and pretty fruit. Medium to full body with juicy fruit. Savory and flavorful. This is balanced and delicious. Very well done. Best wine in a long time from here.

90 POINTS

James Molesworth - Wine Spectator

Pure and focused, with a nice underlying raciness to the plum, kirsch and violet notes. Supple overall, but there's good drive buried on the finish.—J.M.

90 POINTS

Ian D'Agata - Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar

(70% merlot, 20% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon):  Medium ruby-red.  Complex nose combines black cherry, cassis, menthol and licorice.  Mouthfilling and shapely, with a bright, layered texture to the flavors of cassis, licorice and candied violet.  Starts fruitier than most 2011s, but becomes a little tighter and leaner on the back end.  With its ripe tannins and lingering notes of violet and licorice, this wine is long on personality.  The Cheval Blanc team told me this is the first vintage of Quinault that they feel expresses the grace and refinement of which the site is capable.

Roger Voss - Wine Enthusiast

A huge, extracted wine, it shows very ripe fruit dominated by dark tannins and a big black plum skin texture. —R.V

Robert Parker - Wine Advocate

A dark ruby/purple color, attractive raspberry and blueberry fruit, a floral character, noteworthy elegance and undeniable purity and texture make for a complex, mid-weight, delicious Quinault from the owners of Cheval Blanc. Drink it over the next decade.

Jeff Leve - The Wine Cellar Insider

While 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon create this blend, the estate will add more Cabernet Sauvignon in 2017 due to gravel in the soil. The wine will be aged in 40% new oak. Truffle, smoke and black raspberry notes open to a medium-bodied, light, bright and fresh red berry-dominated finish. 88-90 Pts

Neal Martin - Wine Advocate

A blend of 70% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon and the third year in organic production, picked between 8th and 27th September, the Quinault l’Enclos has a clean, precise bouquet with crisp raspberry and cranberry fruit with tangible underlying minerality, the oak in synch with the fruit. The palate is tensile and taut, not a great depth of fruit but fresh and citrusy. The finish is just a little attenuated but I think Pierre Lurton has resisted temptation to eke too much from a vineyard, which they are still working hard to reconstitute. Tasted April 2012

Bettane & Desseauve - TAST

Svelte, élégant, fruit délicat, allonge subtie, fruit frais, joli fraîcheur. Une très jolie expression, sans épate mais précise et sincère de ce terroir original de la periphérie de Libourne. 16-17/20