Chateau de Pez 2018
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine -
Wong
Wilfred
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Very expressive nose of morello cherry and brown tobacco, with sweet notes of licorice candy and peony. A complex palate, expressing violet and fresh blackcurrant, finishing with hints of thyme and a touch of bitter orange zest that gives the finish a gourmet taste. It is a sensual and charming, yet restrained Saint-Estephe. Silky, smooth tannins give this Pez 2018 a precise and refined length.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
From the team of Nicolas Glumineau at Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, the 2018 Château De Pez is a gorgeous 2018 that should be on every Bordeaux lover's radar (and should be a great value as well). Notes of blackcurrants, blueberries, candied violets, and graphite define the bouquet, and it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, rockingly polished tannins, terrific purity, and a great finish. It's terrific and is going to have 15-20 years or more of longevity. The blend is 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 49% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Under the same Rouzaud family ownership as Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande in Pauillac, this estate has produced a structured wine. It offers dense and solid tannins, rich with a firm texture and black currant fruits. The wine has weight and density that need aging. Drink from 2026.
-
James Suckling
Spices and dark berries with some nutmeg and cedar. Medium to full body, really polished tannins and a refined and pretty finish. So fine. Tight yet balanced. Give it three or four years to open. Try after 2023.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 49% Merlot, 1% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, the deep garnet-purple colored 2018 de Pez leaps from the glass with vibrant black cherries, ripe blackberries and blackcurrant pastilles notes, giving way to nuances of black olives, lavender and forest floor. The medium-bodied palate offers nicely rounded tannins and a lively backbone to counter the bold fruit, finishing savory.
-
Decanter
Always an extremely classy St-Estèphe, and this is an excellent wine that has restraint but punch, and plenty of cassis and blackberry fruits, with a governing hand of tannins that are never overdone.
-
Wine Spectator
Fresh red currant and bitter cherry notes are laced with floral and chalk notes. Piercing in feel through the finish, with the fruit and minerality in lockstep as a touch of cedar appears, leaving a mouthwatering edge. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2032.
-
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Chateau de Pez is one of the truest-to-form Saint-Estephes. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers aromas and flavors of rustic spices, earth, and black fruit. Enjoy it with grilled short ribs. (Tasted: May 9, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
Other Vintages
2021- Decanter
-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine - Decanter
-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert - Decanter
-
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James
-
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James
-
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
Chateau de Pez is located west of the town of Saint-Estèphe. The estate consists of 74 contiguous acres, with 54 acres under vine. The vineyard is situated on a high plateau with well-exposed slopes. From a summit of 59 ft. the land descends northward to 39 ft.
Chateau de Pez remains resolutely faithful to wood. The blend is composed in December and the wine is stored in barrels where it is racked every three months. After approximately one year, roughly midway through the maturation process, the wine is fined using fresh egg whites. The wine is matured in small oak casks with 40% new oak, 30% "Premier vin", 30% "Deuxième vin". It should be noted that the wine undergoes absolutely no filtration.
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.
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.