Chateau de Pez St. Estephe 2016

Château de Pez is Saint-Estèphe's oldest wine estate, founded in the fifteenth century with vineyards first planted by the Pontac family of Haut-Brion fame, and since 1995 it has belonged to Champagne Louis Roederer, whose ownership brought sustained investment in vineyard and cellar. The vines, roughly 94 acres in a single contiguous block, grow on gravel over clay and limestone. The 2016 blends 53 percent Merlot with 42 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and dashes of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc, fermented in traditional oak vats and aged in barrel, 40 percent of it new, racked every three months and bottled without filtration. Blackcurrant, cherry, and licorice carry a mineral edge, density and refinement holding each other in check. Saint-Estèphe substance with Roederer polish.