A rich, fruity wine with lots of fine tannins and mineral undertones with some flowers. Medium body, pure fruit and a full finish. Drink now or hold. A blend of 55% cabernet sauvignon, 39% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 3% petit verdot.

This wine’s tannins are firm and initially prominent, bringing out the structure of a classic wine from Saint-Estèphe. At the same time, the wine offers fruitiness, freshness that can only come from the vintage.

This large estate has turned out a classic wine in 2017 that just screams of Saint-Estèphe. Checking in as a rough blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, and the rest equal parts Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, it will spend 18 months in 60% new French oak. Textbook Saint Estèphe dark fruits, damp earth, and tobacco leaf all flow to a medium-bodied, rounded, nicely textured wine that has the cooler, perfumed, aromatics style of the vintage, good mid-palate depth, and gorgeous purity of fruit. Classic Bordeaux lovers will dig this.