Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
While the wood is still very apparent in this wine, it does also have the rich fruit as a balance. The acidity, dark berry fruits and a fine juicy character go with the firm tannins and spicy wood character. Drink from 2017.
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James Suckling
Lots of delicious, ripe fruit with berry, fresh-herb and shaved-chocolate character. Full body, round tannins and a savory finish. Very well done.
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Wine Spectator
This is generous and forward for a St.-Estèphe, with plum and kirsch notes lined with hints of blood orange and red licorice. Shows a juicy feel through the finish, balanced by honest grip. A modern rendition that maintains a tug of terroir. Drink now through 2019.
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.