89-92 Pts Allen Meadows - Burghound

Outstanding Top Value
"This is aromatically similar to the Clos du Roy except perhaps that it is noticeably more perfumed. There is really lovely detail and precision to the vibrant, complex and saline middle weight flavors that possess more minerality on the balanced and strikingly persistent finish. This is a really pretty effort and worth a look."

"Domaine Charles Audoin was founded in 1972 with only 2 ha of vines that have now been augmented bit by bit to its present size of 12 ha. Charles' son Cyril joined his father in 2000 and is now responsible for the vines and winemaking. Audoin called 2011 a vintage that had an "awful lot of rain. We were in the vineyards constantly trying to balance the canopy so that we had the maximum solar panel to assist with photosynthesis yet not have it be so dense that air flow was limited as this would just have engendered the spread of rot. I was originally going to pick right at the end of August but when I did my final tour of the vineyards, I just felt like the ripeness levels weren't quite what they should be. So I had to call the entire picking team and tell them to wait another week. My bet paid off because just like what happened in 2010, the final ripening happened exceptionally quickly, indeed just a few days made a huge difference. We ultimately started on the 6th of September and thankfully there was not much sorting required, which was my big fear about waiting. I was all but certain that we could get better ripeness levels but at what cost in additional rot was the key question. In this instance, waiting paid off though the next time, it might not, you just never know. Because the fruit was really very clean, and quite ripe, I used between 25 and 50% whole clusters for the fermentation. Still, I didn't want to push things so I did very little punching down. Overall, I really like the wines as they're fleshy and fruity yet entirely serious and should have that lovely quality of being approachable young but capable of rewarding cellar time as well." I have noted before how good the Audoin wines are but this is the fourth vintage in a row where his wines are the reference standard for the appellation. If you haven't tried them, you owe it to yourself, as well as your pocketbook, to give these beauties a try."(01/14)