Winemaker Notes
In 2018, the wine quickly distinguished itself by its fresh, elegant and distinguished style, that this vintage offers with brightness, precision, and great depth. Undoubtedly a very good wine that all the wine aficionados should discover.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This well-run estate shows its pedigree in this latest release. The firm tannins of the appellation are balanced by powerful black fruits and smoky, wood-aging flavors. The 63% Cabernet Sauvignon is the key to the wine's structure and aging potential. Best after 2025.
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Jeb Dunnuck
This estate delivers terrific wines in just about every vintage. The 2018 Château Le Boscq offers a deep purple hue as well as a rocking nose of blue fruits, plums, violets, damp earth, and flowers. Rich and medium-bodied, it has a wonderfully sweet core of fruit and a great finish. It's ideal for drinking over the coming 10-15 years.
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James Suckling
Blackcurrant, black-cherry, dark-chocolate, clove and praline aromas. Oyster shell. It’s medium-to full-bodied with firm, chalky tannins and a creamy texture. Medium finish. Nice texture to this. Polished texture. Drink from 2023.
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Decanter
This is savoury, juicy and full of flavour. 2018 is the first year that the new Cabernet Sauvignon plantings have been incorporated into the grand vin and you can feel their weight. The vines are getting older, and so proved more resistant to the weather in this vintage. This is a lovely Le Boscq with real Médoc classicism, showing a graphite edge, and will provide excellent medium-term drinking. Terra Vitis and HVE3 certified (as with the rest of the Dourthe portfolio).
Barrel Sample -
Wine Spectator
Sleek and pure in feel, with pebbly tannins imbedded seamlessly in the core of cassis and bitter cherry flavors. Light floral and iron notes dart throughout. Modest in scale, but finely cut. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2031.
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Deeply colored, concentrated, and distinctive, St. Estephe is the go-to for great, age-worthy and reliable Bordeaux reds. Separated from Pauillac merely by a stream, St. Estephe is the farthest northwest of the highest classed villages of the Haut Medoc and is therefore subject to the most intense maritime influence of the Atlantic.
St. Estephe soils are rich in gravel like all of the best sites of the Haut Medoc but here the formation of gravel over clay creates a cooler atmosphere for its vines compared to those in the villages farther downstream. This results in delayed ripening and wines with higher acidity compared to the other villages.
While they can seem a bit austere when young, St. Estephe reds prove to live very long in the cellar. Traitionally dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, many producers now add a significant proportion of Merlot to the blend, which will soften any sharp edges of the more tannic, Cabernet.
The St. Estephe village contains two second growths, Chateau Montrose and Cos d’Estournel.