Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Dark fruits and dark tannins are the hallmark of this brooding beast. Either you like rather bold, dry tannins and this will excite you, or it won’t! But I love it. Try in 2020.
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Wine Spectator
Well-fruited, with fig, blackberry and boysenberry confiture flavors, showing a touch more purity and polish and a bit less of the typical bramble and gutsy toast. A bolt of graphite and sweet tobacco scores the finish. Best from 2020 through 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Dassault was a difficult primeur sample to pin when I tasted it back in April 2015. Now in bottle, it has certainly come good. It has an intense bouquet full of black cherry, raspberry and iodine aromas that blossom in the glass, though there is a slight tinniness that remained despite aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chewy tannin on the entry, a fine thread of acidity with a harmonious blackcurrant and strawberry pastille-driven finish. There is good potential here—a heady and buxom Saint Emilion that should be tempered by time in bottle.
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.