2015 Château Capbern, St Estèphe, Bordeaux

2015 Château Capbern, St Estèphe, Bordeaux

Product: 20158107941
Prices start from £26.00 per bottle (75cl). Buying options
2015 Château Capbern, St Estèphe, Bordeaux

Buying options

Available for delivery or collection. Pricing includes duty and VAT.

Description

This St Estephe containing 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot is a real step up in quality from the past few vintages. Under the same ownership as that of Ch. Calon Segur, this cru Bourgeois is growing in maturity and energy, and the wine reflects this. The nose is full of bright blue and red berry fruit. The palate is medium bodied with good weight, smooth and sophisticated fruit. Tannins are well integrated and lush with a bite of pepper to finish. A lovely, generous uncomplicated St Estephe. 2020 - 2030
Stuart Rae - Private Account Manager

Nice dark, Cabernet Sauvignon, blackcurrant fruit, seasoned with a touch of black pepper and a hint of oak on the nose. Similar fruit profile on the palate, quite rich and “modern”, very well-made with crisp acidity and some nice faintly grippy tannins. Very good value.
Chris Pollington - Private Account Manager

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate86/100
Blended of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot, the 2015 Capbern spent 18 months aging in barrels, 60% of which were new. Deep garnet-purple in color, it has a meaty/gamey nose over a core of baked blackberries and cassis with an undercurrent of dried thyme. The medium-bodied mouth is firm, grainy and a little lean.
Lisa Perrotti-Brown - 17/02/2018 Read more
Jancis Robinson MW16.5+/20
Bright crimson. Racy nose. Lighter than some vintages. The oak is just a little sweet and obvious at this stage. Pretty astringent finish.
Drink 2023-2030
Jancis Robinson MW - jancisrobinson.com - Apr 2016 Read more
James Suckling90-91/100
Very fine and polished with lovely integration and finesse. Medium to full body, fresh finish. Harmony here.
James Suckling - jamessuckling.com - Apr 2016
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Decanter90/100
Great freshness of bountiful, ripe fruit and fine ripeness from 68% Cabernet. A lovely wine from perfectly managed vineyards.
Drink: 2019-2028
Steven Spurrier - decanter.com Read more

About this WINE

Chateau Capbern

Chateau Capbern

Chateau Capbern Gasqueton in Bordeaux has been in the ownership of the Gasqueton family, owners of the 3rd classed Growth Ch Calon Ségur, for 10 generations.  It is a Cru Bourgeois, located close to the best part of St Estephe, and has 41 hectares under vine.

Unsurprisingly in view of the excellence of Calon Ségur at present this is a well-run estate, producing wines of charm and structure capable of lasting comfortably 10-20 years in good vintages. The fruit is all hand-harvested and oak is used judiciously, with only one-third of the barrels new each year. 10,000 cases are produced and in the context of the current pricing of top Bordeaux we regard this as offering excellent value for money.

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Saint-Estèphe

Saint-Estèphe

Saint-Estèphe is the northernmost of the most important communes of the Médoc and borders Pauillac on its southernmost border, with only a gully and stream separates it from Ch. Lafite. To the north lies the Bas-Médoc.

Saint-Estèphe is defined by the depth of its gravel, which is ubiquitous but of varying depths and occasionally very shallow, when clay predominates. This keeps the soil cooler and wetter than its counterparts so that the wines can appear fresh in lighter vintages, but superbly successful in hot, dry years. 

The best châteaux in the south of the commune have the deepest soil and the thickest gravel. Cos d'Estournel has an exceptional terroir with its vineyards being located on a south-facing ridge of gravel with excellent drainage. 

Saint-Estèphe is the least gravelly of main Médoc communes and in the north of the commune the vineyards are heavier and more clay-based leading to a rustic style of wine being produced.

The wines can appear austere in youth with a discernable ferric note at some châteaux, but the best typically display good depth of colour, pronounced acidity an tannins in youth and are exceptionally long-lived. At their best, they are the equal of almost any Bordeaux. The well-regarded St Estèphe co-operative controls the production of about half the appellation.

Recommended Châteaux
Cos (Ch. Cos d'Estournel), Ch. Montrose, Ch. Calon-Ségur, Ch. Lafon-Rochet, Ch. Les Ormes de Pez, Ch. Beau-Site, Ch. Cos Labory, Ch. Phélan-Ségur

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Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.

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