Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A beautiful Monbousquet, the 2023 Château Monbousquet sports ripe black cherries, currants, chocolaty herbs, and roasted herbs on the nose. Based on 65% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon and aged 19 months in 50% new French oak, it's medium to full-bodied, has a round, layered mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and a great finish.
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James Suckling
Spicy and toasty oak, blackberries, roasted spices, dark chocolate and ripe dark cherries on the nose. Lush and almost full-bodied, with compact, chewy tannins and a flavorful palate. Slightly less bold in the past with a bright fruit underneath. 60% merlot, 30% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon.
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Vinous
The 2023 Monbousquet is packed with blue/purplish fruit, spice, lavender, mocha and gravel notes. The 2023 is an especially serious Monbousquet with bright acids and vibrant tannins that lend notable energy throughout. This is another fine showing from the Perse family. –Antonio Galloni
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
Wine Spectator
Broad, toasty and with a frankly polished frame, this red offers up generous notes of cassis and plum sauce infused liberally with roasted vanilla, cedar, melted licorice and sweet tobacco. In the not-shy style, but the fruit does drip. Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Decanter
Dark ripe fruit, raspberry, strawberry and cherry with lots of floral elements too. Smooth and so soft on the palate with a chalky undertone giving some length and body. Chewy and ripe summer berry fruits, but with a soft sweet juiciness on the mid palate too before the tightness comes in with some clear clove and wood spice as well as lots of graphite and liquorice freshness. Overall finessed and pristine. A nice expression that will be good to drink in three-five years. Ageing 18 months, 50% new oak, 50% one year.
Barrel Sample: 90
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.