Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of blackberries and meat with hints of spices. Full body, with round and juicy tannins. Lots of wood right now but loads of focused fruit too. This is structured and powerful. Needs at least five to six years to come around. Best Monbousquet ever?
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Wine Spectator
This very structured, but polished, style shows a solid coat of coffee for the large core of crushed fig, plum sauce and steeped black currant fruit. Stays dense, but has a strong graphite and iron edge buried deeply on the finish, which should let this assimilate in the cellar. Lovely mineral, sanguine edge. Beautifully built. Best from 2014 through 2030. 7,500 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This exuberant, flamboyant, modern-styled St.-Emilion from Gerard and Chantal Perse is plump, succulent and irresistible in 2009. Yields were a low 28 hectoliters per hectare, and the blend was a classic combination of 70% Merlot and the rest primarily Cabernet Franc and a tiny dollop of Cabernet Sauvignon. The alcohol of 14.2% is typical for a Monbousquet. Copious notes of toasty oak, vanillin, jammy black and red fruits intermixed with notions of wood fire barbecue, roasted espresso and chocolate jump from the glass of this fleshy, exotic, impressively endowed, full-bodied, silky smooth, opulent 2009. It should drink well for 15+ years.
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.