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Saint Pierre 2018

RegionBordeaux
Subregion France > Bordeaux > Left Bank > St Julien
ColourRed
TypeStill
Grape VarietyCabernet Sauvignon/Merlot

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 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, and 10% Cabernet Franc. The last few vintages have been of real super-second quality and have matched or beaten the big names in blind tastings. The 2018 is produced from a yield of 46 hl/ha and will be 75,000 bottles. The blend is 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot with ageing in 50% new oak.

View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Château Saint-Pierre

Label

Tasting Notes

Pierre (Saint-Julien)
The 2018 Saint-Pierre is even more intense than the Gloria on the nose, actually reminding me of the Léoville Poyferré that I tasted alongside. Copious black cherries, lavender, incense and violet just storm from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit laced with cedar and charcoal. Delivering wonderful delineation and focus and a disarming silky finish, this fulfills the promise that it showed from barrel. An outstanding Saint-Julien that should age well over the next 20–30 years. 2023 - 2045

95
Neal Martin, vinous.com, March 2021

Tasted blind at Southwold 2018. Deep ruby colour. Sweet flowers, bold spices and peppery, brambly fruit on an intense nose. The palate follows, it is chock full of intense briary fruit with fine tannins that build through the mid palate. Lightly sandy but refined, they prop up the dark fruit and decadent spices at the core. The finish is long and fine, focusing on peppery, floral fruit and baking spices. A good showing.

94
Thomas Parker MW, Farr Vintners, February 2022

A very tight and toned red with blueberry and blackcurrant aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, closed down and very long. Solid.

93/94
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com, April 2019

Composed of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Merlot, the 2018 Saint-Pierre bursts from the glass with a glorious perfume of kirsch, blackcurrant pastilles, black raspberries and cedar chest with hints of red roses, pencil shavings and spice box. The medium to full-bodied palate coats the mouth with velvety tannins and beautifully knit freshness, supporting the generous black and red berry layers, finishing long and perfumed. It needs a good four years for the oak to marry and the fruit to really hit its stride, then should drink a further 20+ years. 2025 - 2045

95
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (End of Mar), March 2021

Creamy blackberry and loganberry fruits with touches of brioche, and flaky pastry. Young, needs time, still in the plump early fruit phase, more exuberant than a young Saint Pierre in most vintages, but this will close back up as there are plenty of tannins. I suggest giving it the full ten years to really show just how good this wine is. Layers of bitter chocolate, charcoal, liqourice, grilled cedar, smoked caramel. Great stuff, with a mint leaf finish. 50% new oak, harvest September 20 to October 1.

95
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com, February 2022

Tasted blind. Very dark crimson. Rather spicily exotic on the nose. Sweet and pleasing with tea-leaf aromas and chunky texture. Not yet knit by any means. 14.5%
Drink 2028 – 2050

17
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com, February 2022

77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot. Barrel sample.
Deepest purple colour. Aromatic with dark red fruit and tea leaf, even a touch floral. Sadly, that fruit is rather overwhelmed by the oak on the palate, but the tannins are smooth if quite dense. Chewy finish. (JH) 13%
Drink 2025-2033

16
Julia Harding MW, JancisRobinson.com, April 2019

Deep purple in colour, with an enticing, exotic nose of damson, cassis and toasty oak. The palate is creamy and moreish, with chalky tannins balancing out the ripe black fruit and toasty oak at the core. Peppery and fleshy through the mid palate, this is long and fine, with just the right level of exuberant ripe fruit. An excellent effort from Saint Pierre this year.

93
Farr Vintners, Farr Tasting, April 2019

Checking in as a blend of 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Merlot from very old vines and still aging in 50% new French oak, the 2018 Château Saint-Pierre reveals a saturated purple color to go with rich, full-bodied aromas and flavors of crème de cassis, graphite, and spicy oak. Rich, powerful, and concentrated, yet also with gorgeous purity and freshness, it’s a serious, age-worthy wine that’s going to need 7-8 years of bottle age but will be very long-lived.

94/97
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com, May 2019

(77 Cabernet Sauvignon, 23 Merlot) | 50% new oak | 14.3% alc This is quite a tough Saint-Pierre and there is a lot of stuffing here, but it is also rather square and hard on the finish. The fruit seems very ripe and there is even a touch of dried skin notes here, making it a powerful creature, but not one with much elegance on board. In a world of exotic wines, this will find a home, but in a world of fine red Bordeaux, it might stick out a little too much as an atypical creation. I am hoping that it stays true to type and regains some balance in due course.

17.5+
Matthew Jukes, MatthewJukes.com, April 2019
Read more tasting notes...

The 2018 Saint-Pierre continues a purple patch for this estate that is finally revealing its true potential as one of the appellation's front-running estates. Now this has a cerebral and complex bouquet for the vintage with very nuanced blackberry and bilberry fruit, sous-bois and light cedar aromas. The palate is built around its fine tannins that frame the blackberry and blueberry fruit, the acidity pitch perfect with a silky finish that caresses the senses. This is a marvellous Saint-Pierre that is going to give a lot of pleasure. 2023 - 2045

94/96
Neal Martin, vinous.com, November 2019

The deep garnet-purple colored 2018 Saint-Pierre displays shy scents of rose hip tea, dried mint, crushed rocks and lavender to begin, opening out to a growing core of warm blackcurrants, baked blackberries and Morello cherries plus wafts of garrigue and wild sage. Full-bodied and absolutely laden with black fruits and provocative mineral sparks, it has a firm texture of grainy tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and savory. Aging is anticipated to be for 14 months in 50% new and 50% second-fill barrels. The blend is currently 77% Cabernet Sauvignon and 23% Merlot.

94/96
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (April 2019), April 2019
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.