Saint Pierre 2018

The 2018 Saint-Pierre (Saint-Julien) is a powerful, muscular wine. Black cherry, gravel, dark spice, menthol, licorice and espresso add to an impression of brooding intensity. Saint-Pierre was so compelling from barrel. It is all that and more from bottle. The tannins are going to need a number of years to soften, but there is so much to look forward to here. Readers should expect a virile, imposing Saint-Julien.

A St-Julien name that I can't recommend highly enough, Château Saint-Pierre 2018 is extremely architectural in feel, a beautiful, confident, masculine, muscled wine with vertical walls - although it's interesting to note it has slightly lower alcohol than some other St-Juliens. It's intense in its black fruit and charcoal character, rippling with tannins. I am full of admiration for this impressive wine that demands your attention.

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.

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.

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.