Winemaker Notes
Blend: 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 de Fieuzal reflects the estate’s ongoing refinement in matters of ripeness, élevage and extraction, revealing a complex and vibrant bouquet of cassis, mulberries, peony and rose petals, subtly accented by menthol. Medium- to full-bodied, precise and dense, it is crystalline and seamless, layered and finely textured, framed by powdery tannins and concluding with a long, ethereal and floral finish. This is a particularly accomplished rendition that allows both terroir and vintage to speak with clarity and authority. Rating: 95+
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Jeb Dunnuck
Another beautiful wine in the vintage that I’d love to have in the cellar, the 2023 Château De Fieuzal offers cassis, spring flowers, graphite, and subtle leafy herbs as well as tobacco nuances on the nose. Medium-bodied on the palate, it has a pure, layered mouthfeel, ultra-fine tannins, and integrated acidity. The quality here continues to soar, and this is a beautiful, elegant wine that will keep for two decades.
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Decanter
Opening with a mix of floral bouquet, raspberry and plum, the wine is more ethereal than usual from this estate: delicate, smooth tannins lead to a creamy mid palate, not without structure, rather subtle including ripe fruit sweetness, licorice and crushed tobacco freshness on the medium finish.
Barrel Sample: 93 -
James Suckling
Very earthy, with ground coffee, elderberries and a thyme-like herbal note. The succulent palate is medium- to full-bodied, with a lovely savory touch in the finish.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
The Château de Fieuzal 2023 offers an authoritative mid-palate presence, unfolding layers of black fruits, subtle cedar, and forest-floor resonance. Its savory depth and poised structure make it a natural match for Vietnamese caramelized pork shoulder (th?t kho), slow-braised with fish sauce, palm sugar, star anise, and black pepper—where the wine’s dark fruit and earthy nuance echo the dish’s sweet-savory spice and umami richness. (Tasted: January 22, 2026, San Francisco, CA)
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.