Winemaker Notes
Plenty of bright and pretty blackberry and blueberry fruit. Medium to full body, fine tannins. Medium finish. The dominant features of the 2015 vintage are: aromatic richness and quality of tannins. This vintage is a beautiful gift.
Blend: 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Close to some of the top Margaux vineyards, this estate regularly produces some fine wines. This bottling is beautifully structured, firm with tannins and also generous with black fruits. A high percentage of Merlot gives a particularly ripe and juicy wine that will age over the medium-term. Drink from 2022.
Editors' Choice -
James Suckling
Big black fruits and a ton of ripe tannins make this a dramatic wine that would be hard not to like. The balance is really good and that makes it delicious right now. If it were a bit more complex it would rate even more highly.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Another little gem Cru Bourgeois is the 2015 Château Cambon La Pelouse which comes from close to equal amounts Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, with roughly 4% Petit Verdot. It offers a darker edge in its blackcurrant, underbrush, tobacco and earthy aromatics, is medium-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and has building tannin. It's absolutely worth seeking out and will drink nicely for a decade 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.
While it claims the same basic landscape as the Medoc—only every so slightly elevated above river level—the Haut Medoc is home to all of the magnificent chateaux of the Left Bank of Bordeaux, creating no lack of beautiful sites to see.
These chateaux, residing over the classed-growth cru in the villages of Margaux, Moulis, Listrac, St-Julien, Pauillac and St. Estephe are within the Haut Medoc appellation. Though within the confines of these villages, any classed-growth chateaux will most certainly claim village or cru status on their wine labels.
Interestingly, some classed-growth cru of the Haut Medoc fall outside of these more famous villages and can certainly be a source of some of the best values in Bordeaux. Deep in color, and concentrated in ripe fruit and tannins, these wines (typically Cabernet Sauvignon-based) often prove the same aging potential of the village classed-growths. Among these, the highest ranked chateaux are Chateau La Lagune and Chateau Cantemerle.