TANTALUS ÉVOQUE RESERVE 2019

Winery notes (2019 Vintage)
"Dark ruby, our merlot blend is seductive and graceful. Gathering together ripe black plum, liquorice, and cherry, underpinned with a current of Turkish delight, graphite, and sandalwood. Balanced acidity and silky tannins confer structure, and the extending ageing in French oak shows a soft, ample mid-palate. The myriad of flavours lead the senses, creating a revealing bouquet and a long sustained finish."

5 Stars & 94/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, March 2023 (2019 Vintage)
"It's splendidly complex and fragrant on the nose with blackcurrant, dried cherry, cured meat, bay leaf and cedar characters. The palate delivers excellent weight and finely textured mouthfeel, beautifully framed by chalky tannins. Harmonious and elegant with a prolonged refined finish. At its best: now to 2029."

Rated Excellent & 94/100 Cameron Douglas MS, June 2024 (2019 Vintage)
"A lovely concentration and depth with a bouquet of fresh plums and blackberries, spices, licorice and new leather. Dry and textured as the wine touches the palate, plenty of tannins and acid line to build in texture and mouthfeel. Violets and plums, spices and complexity. Well made and lengthy with plenty of weight and texture. Best drinking from 2025 through 2035."

5 Stars & 18.5+/20 (94) Candice Chow, Raymond Chan, May 2024 (2019 Vintage)
"Deep, rich ruby-red, lighter on the rim. The nose is full and alluring, with aromas of berries, plums, cassis, tobacco, dried blackcurrant leaves, new leather and an amalgam of spice. Full-bodied, aromas of berries, red plums intertwined with cassis, black currant leaves, new leather, cloves and star anise. The red spectrum fruit is vibrant with lively, juicy acidity. Slightly firm yet velvety tannins provide an elegant framework, unfolding leather and spice, lending a sustained finish. This seductive Bordeaux blend possesses succulent fruit and vibrant acidity and is poised on a fine, rich structure. Match with fillet-mignon and roasted lamb over the next 10 years. A blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Malbec, handpicked, manually sorted for best berries, cold soaked in stainless steel, fermented in batches wild and inoculated to 14% alc, aged in French oak for 18 months. Unfined."

92/100 Erin Larkin, RobertParker.com, Wine Advocate, January 2025 (2019 Vintage)
"The 2019 Evoque Reserve leads with a powerfully spicy nose of bramble and crushed peppercorns, dried sage, arnica/licorice root, bloodroot and black cherries. On the palate, the tannins are plentiful but fine and create a dry bed of texture in the mouth. The length through the finish is good, and while the wine is intense right now, it will further soften in time and likely develop more forest floor and autumnal characters. This lovely wine is Merlot-dominant. 14% alcohol, sealed under natural cork."