Winemaker Notes
Very deep garnet red color; delicate nose of light wood, toasted bread and berry jam ; on the palate, the aromas are reproduced with a perfect balance and freshness. Lovely long finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Offering structure as well as black-currant fruits, this wine is already balanced. It has fruit weight, the succulent Merlot balanced by complex Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. A wine with a good future, this should be ready from 2024.
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James Suckling
Blackcurrants, violets, dried leaves, graphite and black olives on the nose. It’s medium-bodied with firm, sleek tannins. Gravelly undertones on the fine, austere finish. Really tight at the end. Better from 2023.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2018 Château De France showed nicely, with a concentrated, focused, medium-bodied style as well as classic cherry and currant fruits intermixed with smoky tobacco, gravelly earth, and violet nuances. Its good balance, ripe tannins, and purity of fruit are all notable. It could use a touch more flesh, but this is certainly well done and will benefit from just 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for 15 years or so.
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.