Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Power and poise of rich, muscular tannic frame for good ageing potential. Continuing the more serious expression of Olivier over last few years, begun with the inclusion of the new Bel Air plot of vines that represents 30% of the blend. New addition also in 2015 of 1ha of Petit Verdot, representing 5% of wine along with 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot.
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James Suckling
Love the aromas of currants and black cherries with blackberries and sandalwood. Full body, round and soft tannins and a savory finish. Shows brightness of fruit and intensity. Attractive balance. Drink in 2021.
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine has great fruit, rich tannins and attractive acidity. Round and with ripe spicy flavors, the wine already has good balance. Its acidity and crisp final fruitiness suggest a wine that will mature easily and gently. Drink from 2023.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium garnet-purple in color, the 2015 Olivier is a little reticent at this youthful stage, offering exciting glimpses at fragrant earth, black raspberries, black cherries and red currant scents with suggestions of mossy bark, bay leaves and tilled soil. Medium to full-bodied, it fills the palate with mineral and earth-laced red and black fruits with firm, grainy tannins and a lovely herbal lift on the finish.
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Wine Spectator
Solidly ripe, showing a nice flow to the cassis and plum fruit flavors, carried by graphite and tar accents. A singed alder hint melds through the finish, with a tobacco note lurking down the road. Delivers purity and charm. Best from 2020 through 2030.
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.