Winemaker Notes
Blend: 82% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc, 7% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Polished aromas of currants, blueberries, mahogany, walnut and tobacco. It’s full-bodied with firm, tight-grained tannins. Chewy, concentrated and structured. Real and harmonious character. Try from 2024.
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Decanter
Lovely sense of restraint and life through the mid-palate. Not particularly typical of St-Emilion but there is a linearity to it, and it's enjoyable and full of personality. Closed right now and a little austere - definitely needs time to soften - but there is good quality to the tannins and a sappy finish. Drinking Window 2024 - 2040
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Couvent des Jacobins is generous and long on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers concentrated aromas and flavors of black fruit and oak. Enjoy it with grilled lamb kebabs. (Tasted: November 10, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
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Jeb Dunnuck
An outstanding wine, the 2018 Couvent Des Jacobin's reveals a medium ruby/purple color as well as perfumed notes of framboise, red currants, dried flowers, and spice. This carries to a medium-bodied, ethereal Saint-Emilion with moderate depth and richness yet beautiful overall balance, no hard edges, and a great finish. It's another one of those wines that grows on you with time in the glass and shines more for its balance and elegance than power. I don't think it's going to make old bones, but it should keep nicely for 10-12 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made from 100% Merlot, the 2018 Calicem has a deep garnet-purple color and slowly emerging scents of plum preserves, blueberry pie and mulberries plus wafts of fallen leaves, dusty earth and clove oil. The medium to full-bodied palate is charged with impressive vivacity, delivering bags of crunchy black and blue fruits and a grainy texture, finishing long and earthy. Rating: 91+
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.