Winemaker Notes
Can be enjoyed with red meats, game birds, poultry and mild cheeses
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
One of the leading estates in the Graves has produced an elegant, balanced wine. Wood aging has added to the fruit tannins to give plenty of structure to go with the black-currant fruits. This is a wine to age, drink from 2023.
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James Suckling
Some chocolate and leafy, cabernet character on the nose, but the fruit seems ripe enough on the generous palate. Slightly chewy finish. Just a year longer in the bottle ought to help. A blend of 50 per cent merlot and 50 per cent cabernet sauvignon. Try from 2020.
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.
Famous for both its red and white wines, Graves is a large region, extending 30 miles southeast of the city of Bordeaux, along the left bank of the Garonne River. Red wine producing vineyards cover well over three times as much area as the whites. In the late 1980s, the French created the separate appellation of Pessac-Léognan within the northern confines of Graves. It includes all of its most famous properties, and the southern suburbs of the city Bordeaux itself. In French "graves" is a term used to indicate gravelly soils.