Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A straight up smokin’ red from this vintage is the 2015 Château Gazin and it’s a big, powerful, stacked 2015 that’s for those with patience. Made from almost all Merlot (I think it’s 100%), my notes on this beauty start - and end - with “love it.” Cassis, lead pencil shavings, graphite, forest floor, and tons of minerality all soar from the glass of this sensationally rich, concentrated, medium to full-bodied 2015 that has building tannin, a seamless texture, and a blockbuster finish. Forget bottle for 5-7 years and enjoy over the following two to three decades.
Rating: 95+ -
Decanter
Brimming with brambly black fruit, toast and mocha; wonderfully concentrated with hints of pencil shaving and mineral freshness. Drinking Window 2023 - 2037
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Grand Mayne is medium to deep garnet-purple in color with an earthy nose of damp soil and fungi with a core of red and black plums, black berries and dried herbs. The full-bodied mouth is rich and earthy with a firm structure and plenty of freshness, finishing long.
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Wine Enthusiast
This huge wine seems to revel in its rich and powerful fruits. It has a serious side as well, coming from dark tannins, black chocolate and wood-aging flavors. If it seems extracted at this stage, that fruit will come to balance the wine as it matures further. Drink from 2024.
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Wine Spectator
Nicely packed together, with juicy raspberry and plum paste flavors buttressed by licorice and ganache. Shows some energy through the finish, but this is more about heft than grace. Barrel Sample: 89-92 pts
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James Suckling
A juicy and rich red with roasted coffee, chocolate and ripe fruit. Full body, velvety tannins. A little over extracted now but could come around with proper barrel aging. Barrel Sample: 90-91 pts
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.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.