Andrew Jefford | Dark though not opaque black-red. Warm, vivid raspberry and redcurrant fruits in sweet and expansive style without, happily, too much oak; just a touch reedy and dry, but sustained. On the palate, the wine is light to mid-weight, vivid and lively, with singing red fruits, relatively assertive, structural acidity, and brisk mid-weight tannins. It has a very attractive floral sheen, and a creamy fullness, too. There is incense spice in the finish. We are looking at relatively high-sited Cabernet Franc, so to expect plushness here would be to invite disappointment. Better to approach the old vines of Le Dôme as a unique expression of St-Emilion and a contrast to almost all of the other ambitious wines of the appellation. | 91

Michael Schuster | Intense, sweetly ripe fruit to smell; full-bodied, powerful, finely but firmly tannic wine— a clear, long-term balance; sweetly ripe to taste, warm, spicy, long, and close-knit within its tannic frame, long and fruit-sweet in aftertaste. Excellent long-term wine, currently somewhat dominated by its tannins, and clearly needing plenty of time. 2029–45+. | 93