Château Dassault 2025

Château Dassault is a Grand Cru Classé estate in Saint-Émilion, in the right bank of Bordeaux, with around 20 hectares on the north slope. The red is a Merlot-led blend with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, grown on siliceous and sandy calcareous soils that carry iron deposits. Merlot thrives on these cooler, clay-influenced right-bank soils, giving plush, plummy fruit and a rounded body, while Cabernet Franc adds aromatic lift and freshness and Cabernet Sauvignon brings structure. Careful work through the year aims to bring in healthy, ripe bunches. The wine ages fourteen months in French oak barrels, where slow oxygen exchange across the staves softens the tannins and the oak adds vanilla, toast and cocoa, knitting the blend together. The colour is deep, dark ruby. The nose shows blackberry and ripe plum with red berry fruit, cocoa, vanilla, tobacco and a cedary oak note. The palate is medium to full bodied, with fine, polished tannins, fresh acidity and a long, savoury finish. Serve at 16 to 18 degrees, decanting an hour ahead. It suits roast beef, lamb and game.