Chateau De Pez 2018

Product info about Chateau De Pez 2018

Château de Pez 2018 is the estate's Grand Vin, from Saint-Estèphe on Bordeaux's Left Bank. The blend is built almost equally on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with small additions of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. That balance gives the wine the firm Saint-Estèphe frame, while Merlot brings depth and dark fruit around the structure.

The estate's 42 hectares are divided into around seventy individual plots, set on higher Garonne gravel rises over a clay-limestone subsoil. Good drainage, the moderating influence of the Gironde and plot-by-plot vinification all play a role in the style of the wine. Château de Pez is HVE3 certified and works with practices such as mechanical soil cultivation, tailored organic fertilisation, grass cover between rows and measures that encourage biodiversity.

The 2018 growing season was not straightforward at first, with a wet, cold winter and strong mildew pressure in spring. From mid-July onwards, warm and dry conditions allowed the grapes to ripen, and harvesting took place from 18 September to 9 October. The wine was matured in oak barrels, racked during ageing, fined with egg white and bottled without filtration.

For Drankenshop Broekmans, this is the kind of Bordeaux that speaks to customers looking for structure, cellar potential and a classical food wine rather than immediate simplicity. Several tasting references point to a drinking phase beginning around the mid-2020s and continuing into the early 2030s. Decanting before serving is a sensible approach, especially alongside grilled or roasted beef, duck, game, herb-seasoned lamb or mature cheeses.

The wine shows a deep ruby to garnet-purple colour. Aromatically, it moves between dark and red fruit: blackcurrant, black cherry, blackberry, plum, redcurrant and morello cherry. Floral notes of violet, peony and lavender sit alongside tobacco, cedar, graphite, black olive, forest floor, thyme and a touch of bitter orange peel.

On the palate it is dry, medium to full-bodied, structured and concentrated. Ripe fruit is framed by fine to firm tannins, with enough freshness to keep the wine lifted. The finish is long, savoury and mineral-tinged.