| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Estèphe |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
Owned and made by the Cazes family of Lynch Bages, this is a consistently good wine and deserving of cru classé status. The vineyard is planted with around 50:50 Cabernet and Merlot. Always good value, it can often be attractive in its youth but great vintages can mature for decades. (The 1989 and 1990 are still magnificent).
Aromas of sweet cherries, berries and spices framed by creamy new oak, introduce the 2020 Ormes de Pez, a medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy wine that's polished and seamless, with a generous core of fruit and an extroverted, charming profile.
2023 - 2040
The 2020 Ormes de Pez has a more open nose than its peers, leaning more toward red fruit as hints of potpourri and rosemary lend complexity. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated tannins. There's quite a lot of extraction noticeable in this Saint-Estèphe, as well as a grippy, saline finish. It will require cellaring for several years before it entertains drinkability. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. 2030 - 2055
Medium to deep garnet-purple in color, the 2020 Ormes de Pez features delicate scents of juicy red and black cherries, mulberries, and candied violets, leading to hints of cloves and dusty soil. The medium-bodied palate is coated with lively black and red fruits, supported by lightly chewy tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing on an earthy note.
Love this wine, with its punchy stamp of St Estèphe, with powerful black fruits and fresh acidities, both enticing and appealing while extremely unfussy. The tannins are serious and a little chunky, but have plenty of character and there is appealing gunsmoke and salinity on the finish. 3.69ph, 45% new oak.
Full bottle 1,340 g. Cask sample taken 16 April. 54% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot. Merlot harvest began on 15 September, nine days earlier than in 2019, and continued until 20 September. The Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot were harvested on 21 and 22 September, respectively. Cabernet Sauvignon was picked from 20 to 28 September. 16 months' ageing in barriques (45% new) envisaged.
Dark crimson, but much paler than the Pauillacs from this Cazes stable. Aromatic and medium concentration of fruit with some stoniness on the palate. Marked tannins and acidity but nothing excessive. Classic St-Estèphe. Cool fruit and freshness. Very dry finish. I should imagine that this will be far from the most opulent wine of the appellation but it's very sincere and correct and I like the menthol-fresh finish. 13.2%
Drink 2029 – 2047
In 2020 the blend is 54% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, with 4% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It is 13.2% abv and will be aged for 16 months in 45% new French oak. Deep ruby in colour. Cool, dark fruit comes through on the nose with graphite and toasted spice. The palate is rich and muscular as one might expect, but there is generous cherry fruit at the core. Plump and fleshy with smoky, dark fruit through to the finish.
(54% M, 38% CS, 5% CF, 4% PV; 13.17% ABV; 45% new)
Fine nose of blackberry fruit; medium-full, vibrant in acidity, very fine in tannin; brisk ripe red-fruit flavor; juicy and appetizing, long and remarkably graceful for a St-Estèphe, Merlot-supple and with lovely length. This will be deliciously drinkable, and without too long a wait. A most satisfying Ormes de Pez. 2025–40+.
The 2020 Ormes de Pez has held on to its Pauillac-inspired bouquet with touches of pencil shaving littered amongst the tightly-knit black fruit, then brine aromas percolating up with aeration (I give this 20 minutes to open). The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, cohesive yet maybe just missing the mid-palate weight and concentration of say, the Cazes's Lynch Bages or Haut-Batailley. Fresh and saline on the finish. Give it two or three years in bottle.
Aromas of sweet cherries, berries and spices framed by creamy new oak, introduce the 2020 Ormes de Pez, a medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy wine that's polished and seamless, with a generous core of fruit and an extroverted, charming profile. 2023 - 2040
The 2020 Ormes de Pez, which has gradually moved to a more Merlot-dominated blend over the last decade, is aged for 16 months in 45% new oak. It has a nicely detailed bouquet of a mélange of red and black fruit – cranberry, blackberry and a touch of blueberry – accompanied by cedar and subtle wild mint aromas; it is actually quite Pauillac-like in style. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins and chewy in the mouth, quite compact at first. A strong saline, almost briny element comes through toward the finish, which is more quintessential Saint-Estèphe. This is a more backward and less finessed wine compared to the Cazes family’s Lynch-Bages or Haut-Batailley, but there is commendable length and character, not to mention a very attractive openness, to this wine. Drink: 2025 - 2045
Composed of 54% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, to be aged for around 16 months in French oak barriques, 45% new, the 2020 Ormes de Pez has an alcohol of 13.17%, a pH of 3.69 and an IPT of 79. Deep garnet-purple colored, it springs from the glass with notes of plum preserves, blueberry compote and Morello cherries, plus hints of graphite, wild mushrooms and sautéed herbs. The medium-bodied palate delivers plenty of herbs-laced black fruits with a pleasant chewiness to the texture and lovely freshness, finishing on a lingering fragrant-earth note. Drink: 2024 - 2040
Blueberry, raspberry and cassis, there is concentration but also juice. Merlot-dominant (following a restructuring of the vineyard to better align grapes with terroir) with bite and freshness. A lovely smoky edge here, this is another successful vintage for Ormes de Pez. 4% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 3.69ph. 45% new oak. A yield of 42hl/ha which was not as low here as at Lynch Bages because of more clay in the soils, and because the Merlot was less impacted by the drought than the Cabernet Sauvignon.
Drinking Window 2024 - 2038
