Winemaker Notes
Blend: 50% Merlot, 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
I loved the 2019 Clos Marsalette, which has a ripe, sexy, medium to full-bodied style as well as classic Graves-like aromas and flavors of blackcurrants, tobacco leaf, damp earth, and chocolate. It certainly has an herbal edge, yet the fruit is pure and sweet (not residual sugar), it has ripe tannins, a layered mouthfeel, and a great finish. Count me as a fan. Drink this puppy any time over the coming two decades. Rating : 93+
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James Suckling
Aromas of blackcurrants, blackberries, graphite, iodine, wet earth, tar and black tea. Some green olives and dried herbs. It’s medium-bodied with firm, fine-grained tannins. Balanced and fresh. Classically structured.
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Wine Spectator
Features the lush cassis, mulled plum and boysenberry compote profile of the vintage, along with a fresh mineral streak as well as juniper and savory hints that give it some distinction. Alluring but on the languid side, which is the theme for Pessac in 2019. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.
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Decanter
A consistently successful Neipperg wine in Pessac, bringing some of his signature glamour to the Left Bank. This is a big shouldered wine, feels fairly high in alcohol and not one that you are going to ignore. I wonder if this style does better on the limestones of St Emilion where there is greater natural acidity as a counterbalance, but no question that this has plenty of texture and swagger. Drinking Window 2024 - 2038
Barrel Sample:92
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Offering up aromas of sweet wild berries, rose petals, orange rind, wood smoke and loamy soil, the 2019 Clos Marsalette is medium to full-bodied, fleshy and charming, with a sweet core of fruit, melting tannins and a lively, succulent profile. Cabernet Sauvignon represents some 50% of the blend at this small Pessac-Léognan estate.
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.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.