2020 Chateau de Pez Grand Vin Saint-Estephe

From: Bordeaux, France
Blend: 49% Cabernet Sauvignon, 49% Merlot, and the balance Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc

Taste & Critical Acclaim:
JD 94 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.

JS 93 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.

RP 92 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.

D 92 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.

WS 92 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.

WW 91 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)

Pairing: Chateau de Pez is best served with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, and grilled dishes as well as mushrooms, pasta, and cheese. Today, we’re going with a “scaled-down classic” dish: Individual Beef Wellington by Eric Kim.

About. A brief history. Founded in the 15th century, Pez is the oldest domaine in Saint-Estèphe. The Pontac family, then-owners of Château Haut-Brion, gave Pez its vineyards. The property remained in the hands of descendants until the French Revolution. Sold as a property of the state, the domaine belonged to a succession of families until 1995, when it was purchased by Champagne Louis Roederer.

Château de Pez is one of the oldest properties in Bordeaux’s Left Bank and consists of 118 continuous acres with 103 acres planted to prime grape varieties, mainly merlot and cabernet sauvignon. Thanks to the quality of its production, Château de Pez is counted among the most highly reputed crus of the Médoc and was reclassified as a Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel in 2003.

About the vineyards, terroir, and grapes. The 48 hectare Left Bank vineyard of Chateau de Pez, located in the north of the appellation, just due west of Chateau Calon Segur is planted to 48% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot. All of the Malbec has been removed. The vineyard, which is in 1 large parcel of vines has a terroir of gravel, limestone, and clay soils.

The plantings shown here represent a marked increase in the amount of Merlot planted here, which helps add more softness to the wine. Until the mid-1990s, the vineyard was planted to about 70% Cabernet Sauvignon. The additional Merlot vines were added after the purchase by the Rouzaud family (Roederer).

The vineyard of de Pez has good natural drainage because the slopes rise to almost 17 meters. The Saint Estephe vineyard of Chateau de Pez is planted to a vine density of 9,000 vines per hectare. The vines average 25 years of age.

In 2018, the chateau completed construction on an all-new, modernized cellar which allows for a parcel by parcel vinification.

Winemaking. Château de Pez remains resolutely faithful to wood. The blend is composed in December, and the wine is stored in barrels (40% new wood, 40% in "Premier vin" casks and 20% in "Deuxième vin" casks) and racked every three months. It is to be noted that the wine undergoes absolutely no filtration.