Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is rich and concentrated with loads of fruit and ripe tannins. Full body and a long, long finish. Beautiful intensity. Better in 2017 but so juicy and drinkable now. Nice and balanced for the vintage.
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Wine Enthusiast
An elegant wine, it manages to embrace its rich fruit and still show style. There is an opulent texture, driven by ripe Merlot, yet the wine is also fresh and crisp, full of black currant fruit. Drink from 2017.
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Wine Spectator
This has lovely energy, with the vintage's up-front briary feel pulling the flavors of plum sauce, blackberry coulis and cherry preserves along while anise, apple wood and fruitcake notes fill in behind them. Offers a solid, juicy feel through the finish, revealing floral and incense hints in reserve. Rock-solid.—Non-blind Pavie Macquin vertical (December 2014). Best from 2018 through 2028.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This well-known St.-Emilion estate has turned out a dense purple-colored blend of 84% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. Super-concentrated, but not over-extracted, with an essence of blackberry, blueberry and black raspberry fruit interwoven with dusty, chalky minerality as well as a floral note, this full-bodied, rich, moderately tannic, pure, layered, impressive 2011 will benefit from 4-5 years of cellaring. It can be enjoyed over the following two decades.
Rating: 92+ Points
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.