Winemaker Notes
This wine is best enjoyed in its youth, showcasing very fresh fruit, perfect balance, and soft tannins, performing even better in large format, and offering a great-value, approachable expression of Bordeaux.
Blend: 85% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Always a smoking wine (as well as a hard to beat value), the 2020 Château Cap De Faugères boasts a deep purple hue as well as lots of cassis and blueberry fruits interwoven with notes of violets, white flowers, and chocolatey oak. Drink this medium to full-bodied, plush, sexy, fruit-loaded rock star of a Castillon over the coming decade.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
James Suckling
A medium-bodied red with plum and berry. Soft and refined with nice, ripe and creamy tannins. Very polished.
Barrel Sample: 91-92 -
Decanter
Austere kicks to the tannins but it is enjoyable, with plum and sage flavours that come in waves through the palate. Pretty subdued overall but enjoyable.
Barrel Sample: 90
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.
Though the region is larger than many of its Right Bank neighbors, it is one that consistently produces high quality, well-valued red wines. In fact, Cotes de Castillon can almost be considered a geographical eastern extension of St. Emilion, producing similarly-fashioned reds based on Merlot.
Vineyards in the region’s clay, limestone and sandstone soils produce sturdy red wines. On alluvial terraces, in vineyards closer to the Dordogne River, wines tend to be more supple and fruity. In either case, a great Cotes de Castillon red will be bursting with raspberry, plum and blueberry, have an enticing bouquet of dried flowers and a finish that is plush and opulent.