Tasting Notes
Vinous 95
The 2019 Le Dôme is a wine of pure and total sensuality. Far more restrained than it can be, the 2019 possesses tremendous nuance and plenty of intensity, but it is also less of a bruiser than it can be. There is so much going on. Striking Cabernet Franc inflections and structure reveal themselves with time in the glass. Vivid and wonderfully deep, Le Dôme has so much to offer for readers who can give it a few years in the cellar. Jonathan Maltus’ 2019s are superb across the board. I imagine many readers will be drawn to the micro-cuvées, Le Carré, Le Dôme and Les Astéries, in particular, and right so. In my view, though the most impressive wine in the lineup is Teyssier because of its quality at a production level that is very hard to achieve. The growing season was hot, as it was everywhere, with rain episodes in July, August and September that helped balance things out. Frost was an issue in some of the lower-lying parcels that typically inform Teyssier and Laforge. More importantly, the decision to give the wines a bit more energy while retaining all of the richness readers have come to expect yields a range of wines that really stand out in 2019.