The fantastic Chateau Capbern is owned and made by the team at Calon Segur. If you are wondering why you haven’t tasted great old vintages of Capbern, it’s probably because all the fruit from this vineyard went into Calon Segur until the 2006. Since then, Vincent Millet and his team have fine-tuned Capbern into one of the most impressive and best value St Estephe estates on the market. Critics are clearly as enthralled by this Calon sibling as we are. Neal Martin states that the “2020 Capbern has a really quite lovely, sensual bouquet that could charm at a thousand paces.”
Antonio Galloni is equally effusive, describing this as “a Saint-Estèphe of class and personality” with “real depth and plenty of character”. We found the palate to be beautifully textured, suave and silky with waves of crisp, perfumed hedgerow fruit, layered with graphite and cocoa nibs. It is dark and deeply concentrated, yet effortless, lifted and so vibrant. For a Cru Bourgeois to produce such a complete and polished wine is remarkable, especially when you consider the price is just £97.00 per 6 IB (£22.08 per bottle including taxes).
Read More“Another terrific Saint- Estèphe is the 2020 Château Capbern, which comes from the same team as Calon Ségur. (Current director Vincent Millet was brought on board in 2021.) Coming from 33 hectares of vines on sandy, gravelly, clay soils, the final blend is 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. The élevage spanned 18 months in 60% new French oak, and this beauty hit just 12.8% natural alcohol. Gorgeous cassis, violets, damp earth, iron, and classy oak all emerge on the nose, and it's full-bodied on the palate, with beautiful tannins, a layered, seamless mouthfeel, and the vintage's pure, focused, age-worthy style front and center. Give bottles just 4-6 years and enjoy over the following two decades.”
95 Points, Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com