Winemaker Notes
Blend: 80% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Cabernet Sauvignon
The Barrel Sample for this wine is above 14% ABV.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is really fantastic, offering blackberries, blackcurrants and crushed stones. Medium to full body with bright fruit and a long, vivid finish. Agile. Another fantastic wine from here after the 2018. 80% merlot, 10% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from the incredible team at Pavie, the 2019 Clos Lunelles boasts a big, ripe, incredibly sexy and mouth-filling style as well as notes of black plums, black cherries, tobacco, and Asian spices. It brings serious fruit and opulence and is full-bodied, has a round, expansive mouthfeel, sweet tannins, and some obvious underlying minerality. It's already drinking beautifully and should deliver the goods over the coming 10-15 years. While it leads with its fruit, I expect it to show more classic limestone character as it sheds some baby fat. Best After 2022
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Wine Spectator
A flashy, ripe style, with a lovely wave of creamed raspberry and plum fruit carried by warm anise and licorice notes through the lush finish. Delivers a nice floral echo, too. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2030. 1,700 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Perse family's Côtes de Castillon property, located on the clay-limestone soils typical of this appellation, has produced a serious, structured wine in the 2019 Clos Lunelles. Exhibiting aortas of sweet berry fruit, exotic spices and creamy new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, taut and concentrated, with tangy acids and plenty of powdery tannin. Best after 2025. Rating: 90+
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.
Though the region is larger than many of its Right Bank neighbors, it is one that consistently produces high quality, well-valued red wines. In fact, Cotes de Castillon can almost be considered a geographical eastern extension of St. Emilion, producing similarly-fashioned reds based on Merlot.
Vineyards in the region’s clay, limestone and sandstone soils produce sturdy red wines. On alluvial terraces, in vineyards closer to the Dordogne River, wines tend to be more supple and fruity. In either case, a great Cotes de Castillon red will be bursting with raspberry, plum and blueberry, have an enticing bouquet of dried flowers and a finish that is plush and opulent.