Château La Vieille Cure 2006

Review by Robert Parker
Wine Advocate # 181 (Feb 2009)
Rating: 90
Drink 2009 - 2021
Cost: $17-$38


This American-owned estate produces one of the most impressive wines made in Fronsac. Fashioned primarily from Merlot, the saturated ruby/purple-colored 2006 reveals superb sweet kirsch, black currant, licorice, forest floor, and earth characteristics, a textured, medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, sweet tannin, and a long finish. Another super-star Fronsac, it, like virtually every wine from this appellation, sells at a realistic price. It is the perfect wine in these troubled economic times. Drink it over the next 10-12 years. Excellent value.


GUIDE HACHETTE 2010
15 ha - 60 000 - 23 à 30 €

Rachetée en 1986 par des Américains amateurs des vins de Bordeaux, ce cru de 20ha d'un seul tenant bénéficie d'une excellente exposition sur un coteau à 65 m d'altitude. Son 2006 grenat profond dévoile des parfums délicats de fruits rouges. Un structure tannique souple et boisée souteint un palais ample et gras. La fin de bouche, d'une belle puissance, confère à ce vin un bon potentiel de garde : au moins trois à six ans. Le second vins, La Sacristie de la Vieille Cure 2006 (8 à 11€), est cité

OZ CLARKE
La Vieille Cure is one of the few Fronsac properties whose wine is seen quite widely on the export market

La Vieille Cure enjoys an excellent location at Saillans with the vineyards in one block on a slope above the river Isle. Purchased in 1986 by a group of American bankers with a passion for wine, the estate has been steadily renovated since then and now produces some of the best value-for-money wines in the whole of Bordeaux. Part of the 18-ha ( 45-acre- vineyard has been replanted, a new cellar built, modern vinification equipment installed and aging in oak barrels introduced.
The technical management is also at a high level with Michel Rolland retained as consultant oenologist and, since 1994, Jean-Noël Hervé (owner of neighbouring Ch. Moulin Haut Laroque) engaged as overall manager. The wine is rich in extract, firm and solid rather than particularity expressive and marked with toasted oak in youth. It requires four to five years' bottle age after which it opens out very attractively.
Best years : '06, '05, '04, '03, '01, '00, '99, '98, '96, '95.

LE POINT
« Bordeaux : Le millésime 2006 »
N°1810 - Mai 2007

Château La Vieille Cure 2006 : 16/20

Cerise, fruits noirs, dense, épicé, gras, long, plein, riche, puissant , gourmand, racé, frais.
O : 2012
G : 15 ans

LA REVUE DU VIN DE RANCE
Tous les vins du millésime 2006
Mai 2007

Château La Vieille Cure 2006 : entre 15,5 et 17 sur 20

Nez très expressif de fruits rouges, noirs bien mûrs, avec de jolies nuances épicées. Bouche chaleureuse, ample, avec une bonne maturité, du fruit, une trame élégante, fraîche.
Bon potentiel