Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
The wine shows the success of white wines in the 2014 vintage. Initially it has lively acidity and a crisp texture. Then the palate fills out with complex citrus, pineapple and apricot flavors. The aftertaste—juicy and tangy—is already delicious. Drink from 2021.
Cellar Selection -
Wine Spectator
Pure, with elegant red currant and raspberry fruit, carried by long, fine, focused iron notes. A pretty wine that should develop nicely.
Barrel Sample: 90-93 -
Decanter
Dark pepper spices on the attack and a real grip through the length of the wine. 2014 is the first year that Petit Verdot is included in the blend of the first wine and it has translated into an undertone of urgency and subdued power. In general there is a lot of vineyard restructuring happening here from owner Alexandre de Bertmann and technical director Laurent Lebrun, an estate on the ascendancy. Lovely lift on the finish, one of the wines where the ageing potential in this vintage is clear. Very promising.
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James Suckling
A fine and fruity wine with blueberry, mineral and slate character. Medium body, fine tannins and a fresh finish. Very refined.
Barrel Sample: 90-91 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Olivier was one of the very pleasant surprises, to wit, a vastly improved wine compared to its showing in barrel. It has a perfumed bouquet with fine purity, focused with mineral/cold stone scents filtering through the melange of red and black fruit. The palate is well balanced with supple tannin, a keen line of acidity and well-integrated oak. This displays more substance than recent vintages with a lovely allspice and cedar note towards the finish. I would give this a couple of years in bottle and then enjoy over the next 15-18 years. Tasted twice with consistent notes.
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.