Good deep red-ruby. Blackberry liqueur, minerals and crushed stone on the nose, along with an earthy nuance. Large-scaled, lush and sweet, with a creamy, chocolatey flavor saturating the palate. This big, slightly rough wine benefits from its substantial tannins, which help to balance the sweetness of the alcohol. The pHs of these grapes was the highest to date, noted Mugnier, but as there was so little malic acidity, the post-ML pH is now just a bit higher than average. Mugnier told me there would probably be no Clos des Forches bottling, as he needed to include some of the less-ripe juice in the Clos de la Marechale. (Incidentally, the very promising 2009 Marechale blanc, which had been racked into stainless steel tank in September and will be bottled in January, was dry, powerful, complex and gripping, with excellent energy and acidity for the vintage.)
