Winemaker Notes
Intense, dark color. The nose is rich and complex, displaying very ripe red and black fruit notes. Oaky hints enhance the purity of the fruit, without being overpowering. Starts out powerful yet subtle on the palate, becoming well-structured, with smooth, tight-knit tannins without any aggression. The delicious and fruity mid-palate paves the way for a delicious long aftertaste.
Blend: 72.3% Merlot, 27.7% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The flagship 2018 Château Quintus is on another level, offering a gorgeous nose of black raspberries, cassis, spicy oak, chocolate, graphite, and camphor. It has plenty of background oak, yet the texture is brilliant, it's full-bodied, has no hard edges, and delivers just a wonderful sense of purity and elegance. It's the finest vintage to date for this estate. Give bottles 3-4 years and enjoy over the following two decades.
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Decanter
Expressive in its youthful, fleshy fruit, full of blackberry, cassis and blackcurrant stem. It charms immediately, combining smoky oak with rich fruitcake spice and a flinty, mineral edge.
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James Suckling
The deep, meaty and earthy nose pulls you into this concentrated and beautifully balanced St.-Emilion. Stunning interplay of fine and graceful tannins with restrained richness. Very long, fresh and light-footed finish. Drink or hold. Château Quintus vertical tasting. SP.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 72.3% Merlot and 27.7% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Quintus is deep garnet-purple in color, bursting from the glass with rambunctious scents of stewed black plums, boysenberries, dried mulberries and Christmas pudding, plus suggestions of sandalwood, cinnamon stick, potpourri and oolong tea. Full-bodied, rich and voluptuously fruited in the mouth, it counters all that fruit with alluring exotic spice and floral accents, supported by plush tannins and just enough freshness, finishing long and fragrant.
Rating: 94+ -
Vinous
The 2018 Quintus is a powerful, heady wine. Inky dark fruit, chocolate, spice and new leather all race across the palate. Rich and exotic to the core, the 2018 is a big wine. Even so, its 15.5% alcohol is not especially evident. The 2018 is a good wine but not especially delineated.
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Wine Spectator
Plum, black cherry and cassis notes are seamlessly layered, while a bright mineral streak races underneath them. Finish pulls in subtle floral details while the fruit and minerality meld together. Nice length too. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2022 through 2032.
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.