Chateau Saintayme 2019
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Suckling
James - Vinous
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 100% Merlot
The Barrel Sample for this wine is above 14% ABV.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is racy and really fine with beautiful, polished tannins that run the length of the wine, It’s medium-bodied and really energetic. Hints of nutmeg.
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Vinous
The 2019 Saintayme is just as impressive from bottle as it was from barrel. Rich, deep and explosive, the 2019 offers up an exciting mélange of dark cherry, plum, chocolate, licorice and dark spice. I would cellar the 2019 for at least a few years. This is an especially serious edition of the Saintayme. All the elements are impeccably balanced. Tasted two times.
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Jeb Dunnuck
I wasn't able to taste the 2019 Saintayme from barrel, but it's solid from bottle, offering a medium-bodied, elegant profile that's very much in the style of the vintage. Ripe black cherries, mulberries, crushed stone, graphite, and sappy flowers all emerge from the glass, and it's focused, firm, and straight on the palate. It’s going to benefit from bottle age. Rating : 92+
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Produced by the Durantou family, the 2019 Saintayme is a Saint-Émilion derived from soils rich in large stones in Saint-Étienne-de-Lisse. Offering up aromas of sweet raspberries, raw cocoa, spices and rose petals, it's medium to full-bodied, bright and lively, with a fleshy core of fruit and fine, powdery tannins that assert themselves on the finish. This will reward a bit of bottle age. It's 100% Merlot, all planted on vigor-reducing riparia root stocks. Best After 2023 Rating: 90+
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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.