Saint Pierre 2015

The 2015 Saint-Pierre has a scintillating nose of brilliantly defined black fruit with superb mineralité. You can feel the energy coming from this bouquet. The medium-bodied palate is precise and pixelated, displaying fine-grained tannin and wonderful balance, leading to an exquisite, detailed, almost Margaux-like finish. Utterly graceful. This impressed me so much just after bottling, far more than in barrel, and assessed blind against its peers, it represents a convincing argument that Saint-Pierre is becoming one of the go-to Saint-Julien crus. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.

Vivid aromas with currants, mushrooms and dried flowers. Tar. Full-bodied, layered and polished. Show texture and richness. Juicy and lightly decadent. Drink in 2021.

Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2015 Saint-Pierre is still very youthful and a tad closed on the nose, offering scents of cedar, redcurrant preserves, and ripe blackcurrants, plus hints of rose oil and cloves. The medium- bodied palate is taut with tight-knit black fruits, framed by firm tannins and bold freshness, finishing long and spicy.

The belief at the time that the 2014 was better than the 2015 in the northern Médoc is not being borne out with years in bottle (maybe Montrose!). The 2014 at Saint Pierre is excellent, but it's the 2015 that you want to go to if you're lookig for depth and future potential - this is loaded up with nuance and aromatic complexity. 2015 was the year where everything was new at Saint Pierre - newly renovated and expanded winery, more plot by plot vinification with tanks that range from 78hl to 135hl, with vertical press to replace pneumatic press, plus an expanded barrel cellar that allowed more than half of the press wine to be aged separately in barrel before being added to the blend. 50% new oak for ageing, harvest September 21 to October 7, Eric Boissenot consultant.

Tasted blind. Deep crimson. Minerally top notes on a nose of ripe black fruit – but much more classical than anything on the right bank. Very interesting wine with sweet biscuity charm. Long and fresh.
Drink 2023-2040

This is one of the most improved Estates in all of Bordeaux. Now making a Saint Julien of top quality from 17 hectares of vines, planted with 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The last few vintages have been of real super-second quality and have matched or beaten the big names in blind tastings. This is the first vintage to be made in the new winery. The 2015 blend is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon with 19% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc. Ageing in 50% new oak. Deep purple colour with a sweet aromatic smoke on the nose reminiscent of incense. The palate is thick and concentrated with firm but ripe tannins. Plenty of spice and menthol overlaying ripe cassis fruit. The finish is spicy, smooth and long.

This 17-hectare estate has been rejuvenated by owner Jean-Louis Triaud and is certainly producing some of the top wines from the appellation today. I tasted the deep, inky-colored 2015 Château Saint-Pierre twice and it’s reminiscent of the 2010, only with more elegance. In 2015 the wine is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc and it spent 14 months in 50% new and 50% once used barrels. Chocolate covered dark fruits, damp earth, tobacco leaf, and lead pencil shaving-like notes emerge from this huge, concentrated beauty that has building tannin and a huge mid-palate. It’s an incredible wine that builds with time in the glass, has no hard edges and is going to 3-4 decades of life. Bravo! 2018 - 2058

Bright and light the nose has a fragrant mix of bilberry and bramble the start of the palate has herbaceous freshness. There is a sweeter feel in the middle rich fruit with a fleshy ripeness giving depth on the finish.

Like its stablemate, Château Gloria, St. Pierre has made a deliciously refined wine in 2015,
combining succulent black fruits with filigree tannins and supporting acidity. The oak, even
at this young age, feels like an integral part of the blend. Drink: 2024-32

With more obvious oak and tobacco on the nose this is a classic Saint-Pierre with armour and a helmet covering the more
tender elements underneath. It’s hard to see beneath this exterior and yet I sense very clean fruit with a cassis theme
and some red flashes built in to the core, too. Not a great Saint-Pierre, but a robust, upright wine with good grunt and
also power.