Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Great black currant flavors, with lovely fresh acidity, a lot of spice from new wood. There is lovely acidity here as well, a stylish wine.
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
James Suckling
Aromas of currant and blueberries with minerals and flowers as well. Full body, with ultra-fine tannins and a lovely integrated tannin structure. It shows depth and beauty. Better in 2016.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and well-packed, but silky and racy too, with linzer torte, cassis and blackberry notes pumping along, flecked with singed anise and violet, showing a long graphite spine on the finish. Best from 2015 through 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A major sleeper of the vintage, this under-the-radar Pauillac from the owners of Pichon Longueville Baron comes from a 42-acre vineyard, and the blend is divided equally between two grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Classic smoky barbecue notes intermixed with cassis, forest floor and cedar jump from the glass of this dense purple, thick, unctuously textured, rich and heady wine, which can be drunk in 3-4 years. Moreover, it should last for up to two decades. This is normally not too expensive a wine, since consumers do not follow it closely, so readers should take note.
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.
The leader on the Left Bank in number of first growth classified producers within its boundaries, Pauillac has more than any of the other appellations, at three of the five. Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Mouton Rothschild border St. Estephe on its northern end and Chateau Latour is at Pauillac’s southern end, bordering St. Julien.
While the first growths are certainly some of the better producers of the Left Bank, today they often compete with some of the “lower ranked” producers (second, third, fourth, fifth growth) in quality and value. The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification that goes back to 1855. The finest chateaux in that year were judged on the basis of reputation and trading price; changes in rank since then have been miniscule at best. Today producers such as Chateau Pontet-Canet, Chateau Grand Puy-Lacoste, Chateau Lynch-Bages, among others (all fifth growth) offer some of the most outstanding wines in all of Bordeaux.
Defining characteristics of fine wines from Pauillac (i.e. Cabernet-based Bordeaux Blends) include inky and juicy blackcurrant, cedar or cigar box and plush or chalky tannins.
Layers of gravel in the Pauillac region are key to its wines’ character and quality. The layers offer excellent drainage in the relatively flat topography of the region allowing water to run off into “jalles” or streams, which subsequently flow off into the Gironde.