Winemaker Notes
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesBarrel Sample: 91-94
Blackberry and blueberry aromas and flavors with black licorice and asphalt. Medium-bodied with round, lightly chewy tannins and a juicy finish. A little fluid in the mid-palate. Bright and focused at the end. 60% merlot, 36% cabernet sauvignon, 3% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot. Barrel Sample: 92-93
Barrel Sample: 90-92
Including lots of Merlot, the 2021 Pagodes De Cos is 60% Merlot, 36% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 1% Verdot brought up in 25% new barrels. It's another deeply hued effort with ripe red and black fruits as well as floral, violets, and graphite notes. Medium-bodied, elegant, and nicely balanced, it's a rather firm, focused Pagodes that will round into form with a few years of bottle age. Barrel Sample : 89-91
Deeply colored, concentrated, and distinctive, St. Estephe is the go-to for great, age-worthy and reliable Bordeaux reds. Separated from Pauillac merely by a stream, St. Estephe is the farthest northwest of the highest classed villages of the Haut Medoc and is therefore subject to the most intense maritime influence of the Atlantic.
St. Estephe soils are rich in gravel like all of the best sites of the Haut Medoc but here the formation of gravel over clay creates a cooler atmosphere for its vines compared to those in the villages farther downstream. This results in delayed ripening and wines with higher acidity compared to the other villages.
While they can seem a bit austere when young, St. Estephe reds prove to live very long in the cellar. Traitionally dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, many producers now add a significant proportion of Merlot to the blend, which will soften any sharp edges of the more tannic, Cabernet.
The St. Estephe village contains two second growths, Chateau Montrose and Cos d’Estournel.
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.