Winemaker Notes
Blend: 75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Love the combination of dark berries, sweet tobacco and wet earth here. Full-bodied, juicy and chewy with lots of tannins, solid fruit concentration and a medium finish. A blend of 75 per cent merlot and 25 per cent cabernet franc. Try in 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2016 Berliquet (blended of 75% Merlot 25% Cabernet Franc) is a little mute to begin, opening out to expressive kirsch, black plums and black cherry compote scents plus nuances of unsmoked cigars and dried herbs. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has fantastic intensity and energy, with a firm frame of ripe, grainy tannins and a lively lift to the mineral-laced finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
From a site near Canon, just down from Beau-Séjour Bécot, the 2016 Château Berliquet is a plump, rounded, medium-bodied Saint-Emilion with classic red and black cherry fruits, hints of leafy herbs and earth, and a charming, balanced feel that’s very much in the style of the 2016 vintage. A blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc, brought up in 50% new oak, it will put a smile on your face any time over the coming 10-15 years.
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Wine Enthusiast
Packed with spice, blackberry and black plum, this is generous, yet balanced by refined acidity and dense tannins that will give it a chance to age over the medium term. It is an apt and attractive reflection of the vintage.
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Decanter
A great wine this year, showing the real quality of the vintage. Juicy black fruits and a well controlled extraction combined with good acidity. Nicolas Thienpont and Stephane Derenoncourt consult. Drinking Window 2025 - 2040
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.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.