Dark fruits and dark tannins are the hallmark of this brooding beast. Either you like rather bold, dry tannins and this will excite you, or it won’t! But I love it.

The 2014 Dassault is bold, fruit-driven and absolutely delicious, although the firm tannins are going to need some time to soften. Plum, violet, licorice and lavender are some of the signatures in this inky, extroverted Saint-Emilion. In 2014, Dassault is a sleeper.

The 2014 Dassault was a difficult primeur sample to pin when I tasted it back in April 2015. Now in bottle, it has certainly come good. It has an intense bouquet full of black cherry, raspberry and iodine aromas that blossom in the glass, though there is a slight tinniness that remained despite aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chewy tannin on the entry, a fine thread of acidity with a harmonious blackcurrant and strawberry pastille-driven finish. There is good potential here—a heady and buxom Saint Emilion that should be tempered by time in bottle.

Solid, structured fruit notes show a juicy edge, yet the tannins seem rather disjointed. A bit of time might aid in integrating these two elements.

Well-fruited, with fig, blackberry and boysenberry confiture flavors, showing a touch more purity and polish and a bit less of the typical bramble and gutsy toast. A bolt of graphite and sweet tobacco scores the finish.