Winemaker Notes
Blend: 51% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot, 2%Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
Under the same ownership as Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande in Pauillac, this estate has produced a concentrated wine. Dark and firm, with the tannins up front, the wine will take time to develop. Wait until 2025.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
From a vineyard just next to Calon Segur, the 2015 Château De Pez a blend of 51% Merlot, 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot, and 2% Franc all raised in 30% new oak. This medium to full-bodied, impressively concentrated 2015 offers classic dark fruits, tobacco leaf, damp earth and hints of violets. With ripe tannin, a solid mid-palate and a good finish. It’s an incredibly successful Saint-Estèphe in 2015 that’s going to keep for 15-20 years.
-
James Suckling
Quite a bit of menthol cabernet sauvignon character on the nose, then a rather sleek, fresh palate with moderate tannins make this a rather easy St.-Estephe to enjoy. Some nice savory character on the clean finish. Drink now or in 2019 or 2020.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Château de Pez is a blend of 44% Cabernet Sauvignon, 51% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, matured in one-third new oak, the rest in one- and two-year-old barrels. It has a bold and generous nose of kirsch and blueberry, quite high-toned, but perhaps lacking some complexity underneath. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin. It is nicely balanced, gently grippy in the mouth with a harmonious finish, but what it lacks is the persistence on the finish that would have nailed it as a great wine. Drink this over the next 10-15 years.
Range: 88-90
Located in the north of the Saint-Estèphe appellation, Château de Pez is one of the oldest properties in the appellation. Founded in the 15th century, it belonged to various iconic families including the Pontac family, founders of Château Haut Brion. Its vineyard of 42ha consists principally of a single plateau divided into perfectly exposed hilltops around the Château. Since 1995, Pez has been the property of Champagne Louis Roederer; a major renovation program carried out both in the vineyard and in the winery has made it possible to introduce new techniques worthy of a Bordeaux Classified Growth.
Under the direction of Nicolas Glumineau, Managing Director of Pichon Comtesse, Château de Pez is now experiencing a true revival, offering a wine that is distinguished by its aromatic complexity, delicacy and perfectly balanced structure.
The wine is matured in oak barrels during 15 to 18 months with 50% new oak.
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.
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.