Winemaker Notes
Blend: 85% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Sémillon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A creamy and beautiful white with sliced apple, pear, honeydew melon, and crushed stone character on both the nose and palate. Medium to full body. Phenolic layers and a flavorful finish. Crunchy. Better in a year or two.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The second wine in white from this team, the 2021 Pagodes De Cos Blanc (85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Sémillon) has a brilliant array of ripe melon and stone fruits that are supported by subtle minty herb and mineral nuances. It's nicely textured, medium-bodied, has good concentration, and outstanding length. Drink bottles over the coming 2-4 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Offering up aromas of gooseberry, pear, lemon curd and pastry cream, the 2021 Pagodes de Cos Blanc is medium to full-bodied, layered and fleshy, with a satiny attack that segues into a chalky mid-palate animated by tangy acids.
Sometimes light and crisp, other times rich and creamy, Bordeaux White Blends typically consist of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. Often, a small amount of Muscadelle or Sauvignon Gris is included for added intrigue. Popularized in Bordeaux, the blend is often mimicked throughout the New World. Somm Secret—Sauternes and Barsac are usually reserved for dessert, but they can be served before, during or after a meal. Try these sweet wines as an aperitif with jamón ibérico, oysters with a spicy mignonette or during dinner alongside hearty Alsatian sausage.
Deeply colored, concentrated, and distinctive, St. Estephe is the go-to for great, age-worthy and reliable Bordeaux reds. Separated from Pauillac merely by a stream, St. Estephe is the farthest northwest of the highest classed villages of the Haut Medoc and is therefore subject to the most intense maritime influence of the Atlantic.
St. Estephe soils are rich in gravel like all of the best sites of the Haut Medoc but here the formation of gravel over clay creates a cooler atmosphere for its vines compared to those in the villages farther downstream. This results in delayed ripening and wines with higher acidity compared to the other villages.
While they can seem a bit austere when young, St. Estephe reds prove to live very long in the cellar. Traitionally dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, many producers now add a significant proportion of Merlot to the blend, which will soften any sharp edges of the more tannic, Cabernet.
The St. Estephe village contains two second growths, Chateau Montrose and Cos d’Estournel.