Winemaker Notes
Blend: 70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2017 Berliquet gives up expressive notes of baked plums, blackberry preserves and mulberries with hints of licorice, crushed rocks, chargrilled meat and wild sage. Medium-bodied, the palate has a great core of elegantly played flavors framed by soft, plush tannins and bold freshness, finishing long and minerally. The blend is 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc and it was aged for 18 months in French oak, 50% new.
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Wine Spectator
Alluring, featuring steeped plum, boysenberry and red currant fruit that melds slowly with singed mesquite, bramble, sanguine and rooibos tea notes. Offers a long and detailed finish. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2022 through 2034.
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James Suckling
Some berries and smoke with stone and tar. Full-bodied, creamy and beautifully crafted. Tight and focused. A little lean, but shows balance and juiciness. Bitter lemon and smoke at the end. A blend of 70% merlot and 30% cabernet franc. Try after 2022.
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Decanter
The chocolate and mint nose leads into an attractive palate, fairly dense if a touch short. It's a well-balanced and enjoyable wine from a new team led by Nicolas Audebert, who took over after the estate was purchased in late July 2017, and with Thomas Duclos consulting. Among other tweaks, they have adjusted the ageing time to reduce the impact of the oak. This is from clay-limestone soils, close to Canon but mostly on slopes, whereas Canon is mostly on the plateau. Currently, every plot is planted with both Cabernet Franc and Merlot, but they will be planning to raise the percentage of Cab Franc slightly. Unaffected by frost in 2017.
Barrel Sample -
Jeb Dunnuck
Leafy herbs, damp earth, spring flowers, and beautiful dark fruits emerge from the 2017 Chateau Berliquet, which is 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc coming from a terroir just down the hill from Canon. Medium-bodied, with solid mid-palate concentration, present tannins, and a good mix of both richness and freshness, it's going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for 8-10 years or more.
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.