Winemaker Notes
Wonderfully deep in color, tinged with glints of purple. The wine is complex on the nose, combining the intensity of ripe fruits with notes of gentle spice, precious woods and tobacco. Initially soft on the palate, the wine gains in concentration, full-bodied and long, with bold, powerful tannins. A wealth of rich flavors is present throughout, culminating in notes of black berry fruit and spice. Typical Saint-Estephe.
Blend: 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc
The Barrel Sample for this wine is under 14% ABV.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Wow. This is a top young red with a very deep, rich palate of blueberry, chocolate and spice character. It’s full-bodied, yet so polished with intertwined tannins that give a creamy texture to the wine.
Barrel Sample:94-95 -
Wine Enthusiast
Strict tannins mark out the structure of this wine. While there is plenty of fine black fruitiness, the wine does have an initially austere character that is classic Saint-Estèphe. It will need time, but the potential is there.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Decanter
A new Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, owned by Vignobles Dourthe, here showing why it's an estate worth taking seriously. They have gone full power on the colour extraction here, and this is inky, medium to full intensity. A blast of blueberry and cassis fruit sets out their stall on the nose followed up by some mouthwatering slate and crushed stone texture that takes you along the palate. Really good quality, confident and enjoyable winemaking, with plenty of fine tannins and a spiced damson finish. 37% new oak, harvest September 23 to October 9. 2% Cabernet Franc completes the blend.
Barrel Sample: 92 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Composed of 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 46% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2019 le Boscq sports a deep purple-black color and expressive notes of baked black cherries, warm cassis and blackberry preserves with touches of pencil lead, bouquet garni, cast-iron pan and woodsmoke. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers a good intensity of crunchy black fruits with a sturdy frame of grainy tannins and bags of freshness, finishing with a compelling herbal lift. Barrel Sample: (90 - 92)
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and juicy, boasting both burly and sleek aspects, with black currant and blackberry fruit that pumps through and hints of licorice root, tobacco and warm earth. Shows lovely persistence through the finish, as the fruit and earth notes meld. Features a touch of old school, too. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Plenty of classy damp earth and leafy herb notes as well as ripe plum and currant fruits emerge from the 2019 Château Le Boscq, a rich, nicely balanced, medium to full-bodied Saint-Estèphe. It's a solid, outstanding, moderately tannic wine that will benefit from just short-term cellaring and have two decades or more of longevity. Best after 2023.
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.