| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Estèphe |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
The 2011 Les Ormes de Pez has an impressive bouquet, beautifully defined, not intense but precise, earthy black fruit mixed with tar and freshly rolled tobacco. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannins. Exquisite balance, not complex, but so much freshness with the most tension revealed on the finish. This was a bit of a turn up for the books and trumped some of Saint-Estèphe's more auspicious residents. Tasted blind at the annual 10-Year-On tasting. 2022 - 2036
Tasted blind. Intense crimson. Rather soft and un St-Estèphe-like. Good fruit and friendliness. A solid effort with the tannins kicking in only on the very end. 2020 – 2030
Owned and made by the Cazes family of Lynch Bages, this is a consistently good wine and deserving of cru classé status. 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 41% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot with ageing in 45% new oak. Deep garnet colour, with an earthy nose of forest floor, spiced plums and dark cherries. The palate is dark-fruited with soft, integrated tannins gently framing the core. Now maturing nicely with savoury, earthy tones adding nice complexity, this is fine, smoky and leathery through to the finish. A fine, mature wine at an excellent price point.
This non-classified St Estèphe is often a bargain in Bordeaux, and fingers crossed that it will be so this year, too. It's a classic St Estèphe, but with a little more finesse than some. The tannic power is more than balanced by the succulent black fruits, sweet oak and fresh acidity. The austerity will soften with age. 10+ years.
Finely expressed cassis fruit, slightly leathery and firm, good ripe middle palate and will show well. Drink 2014-2022.
The 2011 Les Ormes de Pez is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot aged in 45% new oak. It has an intense, almost brutish bouquet that leaps out of the glass and grabs you by the lapels. It is sweet with cassis and blueberry jam aromas, a touch of graphite and scorched earth underneath. The palate has a tannic entry with a saline seam, edgy tannins that make this quite masculine with a sinewy finish. There is good substance here if not finesse, although there is fine persistency towards the finish. Tasted April 2012.
