2003 Karolus
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Tasting notes
This wine is a sleeper selection from one of the Haut-Medoc’s finest up-and-coming cru bourgeois estates. There are less than 400 cases of their luxury cuvee, which is produced from a 7.5-acre parcel planted with 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc, and an unusually large 13% Petit Verdot. The vines average 40 years of age. The superb 2003 Senejac Cuvee Karolus was fashioned from a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Petit Verdot. Its inky/purple color is followed by glorious aromas of charcoal, creme de cassis, graphite, and spice box. Dense, opulent, and full-bodied, with abundant amounts of rich fruit as well as glycerin, this is a gorgeously proportioned Haut-Medoc to drink over the next 10-15 years.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Ruby-red. Aromas of roasted currant, kirsch and coffee. Big, dense, rich and lush, with the exotic roasted character following through on the palate. A chewy, somewhat chunky wine that finishes with a lot of ripe, oak-influenced tannins.
(a special cuvee from Chateau Senejac, with the blend changing radically from year to year; the 2003 is 88% cabernet sauvignon) Bright ruby-red. Medicinal, brooding aromas of black cherry, blueberry, minerals, licorice, menthol and spicy oak. Dense, sweet and fleshy, with much more stuffing than the regular Senejac sample I tasted. Very ripe, lush flavors of black cherry and dark berries. Finishes with considerably sweeter tannins than the Senejac and lingering flavors of chocolate and licorice. Some saignee was done to concentrate the juice, and part of the malolactic fermentation took place in barriques