Winemaker Notes
Blend 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the red, the 2019 Domaine De La Solitude (Pessac-Léognan) reveals a ruby/plum color as well as textbook Graves notes of red and black cherries, damp earth, chocolate, and smoked tobacco. It's rich, medium to full-bodied, has ripe, supple, yet building tannins, and a great finish. It's beautifully done, and while I'd happily drink a bottle today, it will keep for upwards of two decades.
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James Suckling
Aromas of ripe blackcurrants, blackberries, dark chocolate, licorice and smoke. Polished and refined with medium to full body and firm tannins. Ripe and fruit-driven. Hints of crushed stones and walnuts, too. Rich finish...Drink after 2026.
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Wine Enthusiast
The 79-acre estate is owned by the religious order of the Holy Family, managed by the team of Domaine de Chevalier. This wine is balanced, ripe with generous tannins and dark-berry fruits. Black cherries and acidity complete this attractive wine. Drink from 2025.
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Decanter
Bright red cherry and blackcurrants with a soft cocoa dusting on the nose. Lovely purity and intensity here, crystalline clarity with well-integrated tannins and a super-graceful feel. You get the layers of red currants and blackberries, then the graphite and liquorice which all builds towards a lifted and refreshing finish. Super-tasty and balanced, with a gentle creaminess.
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Wine Spectator
Shows good juicy energy, with black licorice, tar and bramble accents underscoring a core of steeped plum and warmed cassis. Features a subtle sanguine thread that weaves in on the finish.
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.
Recognized for its superior reds as well as whites, Pessac-Léognan on the Left Bank claims classified growths for both—making it quite unique in comparison to its neighboring Médoc properties.
Pessac’s Chateau Haut-Brion, the only first growth located outside of the Médoc, is said to have been the first to conceptualize fine red wine in Bordeaux back in the late 1600s. The estate, along with its high-esteemed neighbors, La Mission Haut-Brion, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Pique-Caillou and Chateau Pape-Clément are today all but enveloped by the city of Bordeaux. The rest of the vineyards of Pessac-Léognan are in clearings of heavily forested area or abutting dense suburbs.
Arid sand and gravel on top of clay and limestone make the area unique and conducive to growing Sémillon and Sauvignon blanc as well as the grapes in the usual Left Bank red recipe: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and miniscule percentages of Petit Verdot and Malbec.
The best reds will show great force and finesse with inky blue and black fruit, mushroom, forest, tobacco, iodine and a smooth and intriguing texture.
Its best whites show complexity, longevity and no lack of exotic twists on citrus, tropical and stone fruit with pronounced floral and spice characteristics.