| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Estèphe |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
Earthy and savory, this starts rich and mellow then slowly turns in the stern direction. A lot of personality and character, and power for long ageing. Try in 2020.
Easily a contender for best value St Estèphe, Ormes de Pez is owned by the Cazes family and delivers exceptional consistency. Balanced, relatively low alcohol, this is still pretty young and closed with firm tannins (I just had the 2009 vintage of this wine and it is joyful, so I would give this one another few years). There is punch here, with brambled autumnal blackberry and raspberry fruits, fragrant raspberry leaf, mint leaf and cherry tomato... all suggesting that acdities are fresh, but with character and charm. 45% new oak. Harvest September 29 to October 10.
The 2014 Les Ormes de Pez has a slightly animally bouquet, earthy and mulch-like aromas filtering through the black fruit dusted with white pepper. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, a fine bead of acidity, very primal and needing to develop more harmony although I feel that the component parts are here. Hopefully this will coalesce with bottle age but at the moment it is a little disappointing. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. 2020 - 2030
Tasted blind. Simple, straightforward nose and bone dry on the palate. Lots of freshness and tannin. Stoniness on the end.
Drink 2024-2038
Owned and made by the Cazes family of Lynch Bages, this is a consistently good wine and deserving of Cru Classé status. 32hl/ha in 2014. Deep ruby colour, with a nose of exotic spices and plums, layered with a little creamy vanilla. Plump, soft and round on the palate with soft tannins and red fruits given freshness from the acidity. Very attractive and moreish with no hard edges.
While the 2015 wasn’t presented, the 2014 Chateau Ormes de Pez from a bottle purchased locally showed beautifully. A blend of 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 42% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot, is reveal a deep purple color as well as rich, concentrated notes of ripe black cherries, licorice, singed cedar, and tobacco. Concentrated, medium-bodied, incredibly pure and focused, with impressive balance, it’s certainly an outstanding wine that’s going to benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age and shine for 15+. It’s a classic, well-made 2014 I’d happily drink. 2021 - 2036
Lively, with a mix of pomegranate, blood orange and bitter cherry notes, flecked with savory and backed by a pebbly finish. Features latent depth and should unwind with moderate cellaring. Best from 2019 through 2025.
Smoky fresh fragrant there is a lot happening on the nose and the start of the palate has bramble and bilberry freshness. Ripe in the middle the sweet fruit supported by fine tannins with at the back a firmer fresher feel the finish bright. 2024-34
From a château that performed extremely well in 2014, just like its stablemate Lynch-Bages, this is marked by the high, record-equalling percentage of Merlot, softening its rougher edges. Aromatic, textured and sweeetly oaked, it gained concentration from the low yields of 32 hectolires per hectare.
The 2014 Les Ormes de Pez was backward and surly on the nose, touches of gravel and graphite, but the fruit felt a little suppressed at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannin. It felt a little pinched, but the finish shows vivacity and focus with graphite-infused black fruit. It just cuts away swiftly on the finish. This is one of the few 2014s that I felt did not match up to its showing in barrel, then again, it often does repay several years down in the cellar. Drink Date 2020-2040
The Château Ormes des Pez 2014 is a blend of 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot picked from 24 September with the young merlot and finishing around 12 October. It was cropped at 32 hectoliter per hectare. Small red cherries and kirsch form the bouquet, quite forward and perfumed with touches of lavender emerging with continued aeration. The palate is medium-bodied, the tannins succulent for Les Ormes de Pez and imparting a fleshier and more approachable texture. This is nicely balanced with a touch of graphite on the finish lending it an almost Pauillac-like personality. Don't under-estimate this Saint Estèphe. Drink 2019-2038.
This is really fabulous with weight and length. Fine and chewy tannins. Goes on for a minute or two. Tiny production due to hail storms in May and June.
A hint of sweet oak on the nose. Then admirable energy but a bit drying on the finish. A real go getter of a wine. Lots of tannins tucked in here but no excess acidity. A palate-dryer at the moment though.
Drink 2024-2040
