Winemaker Notes
Blend: 45% Merlot, 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
What a great nose this has! The integration of black fruit and oak is spot on. Powerful, but with classical elegance, thanks to the polished tannins and the cool, mineral freshness that extends right through the long, refined finish. The best vintage ever from this chateau. Drink or hold.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Velvety tannins give this wine its open charm and fine texture. Structured yet crisp in acidity, hold this wine until 2027.
-
Decanter
Slick, focussed and full of tannins and plush fruit, this has got to be one of the best wines produced from this estate, along with the 2015. It's worth bearing in mind that you'll want to wait another few years before opening it, as it remains pretty strict in its structure. Contemporary in style.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 La Garde, blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot, offers dark berry fruit on the nose, hints of cedar and sandalwood, nicely poised and gaining intensity in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, rounded in the mouth with black tea-tinged dark berry fruit and a composed, harmonious and almost easygoing finish. This is a step up from the 2015. Rating: 88-90
-
Wine Spectator
Solid, with a fleshy feel to the dark plum and cassis fruit flavors that are inlaid liberally with warm tar, plum skin and roasted cedar notes. A touch muscular in feel but has enough acidity for balance in the end. Best from 2021 through 2029.
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.