Winemaker Notes
Blend: 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This consistent overachiever from proprietor Yves Vatelot is a blend of 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Cabernet Franc. By keeping yields to cru classé levels of 35 hectoliters per hectare and using high-quality oak, Vatelot is able to produce a wine far above its humble pedigree. The 2012 is a serious wine – structured, deep ruby/purple, with excellent concentration, impressive purity, excellent integration of new oak, and a long finish. This is a major sleeper of the vintage and another classic offering from Reignac. Drink it over the next 10 years or so.
In most of France, wines are named by their place of origin and not by the type of grape (with the exception of Alsace). Just like a red Burgundy is by law, always made of Pinot noir, a red Bordeaux is a blended wine composed mainly of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Depending on the laws of the village from which the grapes come, the conditions of the vintage and decisions of the winemaker, the blend can be further supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot and in rare cases, Carmenere. So popular and repeated has this mix of grape varieties become worldwide, that the term, Bordeaux Blend, refers to a wine blended in this style, regardless of origin.
BYTFREIGNAC_2012 Item# 152229