Château Les Ormes de Pez, St Estèphe, 2016
Produced from 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 52% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, this Jean Michel Cazes owned St Estephe Chateau is made in a similar vein to its big brother, Lynch Bages. That is to say, this is dark and brooding and seriously well constructed. Liqueur chocolates, kirsch, black cherry; there's really good concentration, large-scale tannins as well as fine acidity and an overall impression of freshness. As ever, this St Estephe will be a good value buy.
critic reviews
A blend of 52 % Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, the 2016 Ormes de Pez is deep garnet in color. It comes bounding out with open-for-business notes of black cherry preserves, warm cassis, and menthol, followed by hints of spice cake and graphite. Medium-bodied, the palate is soft and juicy with spicy accents and a refreshing finish.
A brilliant St Estèphe value in a vintage where you can almost buy blind in this appellation. Tight tannins even after a few hours of opening in bottle (not decanting), this has lashings of bitter dark chocolate, cocoa beans, espresso, cinammon shavings, mandarin peel and damson fruits, this has many years ahead of it. Owned by the Cazes family of Lynch Bages, 45% new oak. On deep gravel soils, picked by hand between September 27 and October 11, on its second year of optical sorting at this point.
The 2016 Les Ormes de Pez has an open bouquet of red plum, wild strawberry, leather and <em>sous-bois</em> aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, displaying more roundness and softness than its peers, but thankfully harmonious and lightly spiced (Szechuan peppers?) on the finish. Nice persistence here, and probably a more approachable Saint-Estèphe. Returning after 15 minutes, I noticed just a little more leafiness on the finish. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting.