2017 Château Pédesclaux, Pauillac, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
They have certainly continued to build up the feeling of serious weight and power at this property. It opens up carefully and consistently over ten minutes in the glass, with a clear focus on Cabernet flavours such as dark spice, blackcurrant berries and buds, liquorice and walls of slate. This wine is taking its place slowly but surely among the really good Pauillacs and has managed to continue to make an impression in 2017.
Drink 2025 - 2038
Jane Anson, Decanter.com (April 2018)
The 2017 Pédesclaux comes across just a little smudged on the nose, though it appears to gain clarity with aeration. Light touches of mint infuse the blackberry and boysenberry fruit, and it is quite refined in style. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, well-judged acidity, smooth texture, and a little more depth on the finish than I discerned out of barrel. This is turning into a very fine Pauillac.
Drink 2022 - 2038
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (January 2020)
The 2017 Pédesclaux has really come together nicely since I tasted it from barrel. Supple and engaging, 2017 shows all of the radiance and soft contours of Merlot, which makes up nearly half the blend. Hints of leather, smoke and tobacco are laced throughout a core of black cherry/plum fruit. The 2017 is engaging, wonderfully inviting and simply delicious.
Drink 2022 - 2032
Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com (March 2020)
A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2017 Pedesclaux is medium to deep garnet-purple in color. The nose reveals a stunning perfume of wilted roses, lilacs and Ceylon tea, over a core of kirsch, raspberry pie and warm blackberries plus touches of garrigue and pencil shavings. Medium-bodied, fresh and fragrant in the mouth, it has soft, easy-going tannins and a compelling iron ore note on the finish.
Drink 2020 - 2032
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (March 2020)
Tasted blind
Mid-ruby colour. It has a quite leafy nose with red fruit, but there is an added plushness of vanilla. Silky and red-fruited on the palate, the gentle tannins add charm and make this very forward. Medium-weight and easy to drink.
Drink 2022 - 2029
Tom Parker MW, JancisRobinson.com (October 2021)
Lots of plum and cherry aromas with terracotta and crushed-stone undertones. Full to medium body. Tight and juicy on the palate. Round, firm tannins, yet really spicy and flavorful. Cloves and nutmeg. Hints of new oak. A blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. Need three or four years to come together.
Better after 2022
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (January 2020)
25% organic, harvested between 18 - 29 September. Sixteen months in barrel, 60% new.
Not so showy on the nose - quite restrained. Appealing, subtle floral aromatics of violet/rose petal. Soft and pleasing on the palate with a similar concentration to the 2014. 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc (the latter was very good in 2017) combine with fine tannins to give an elegant Pauillac with purity and freshness on the finish.
Drink 2023 - 2029
Andy Howard, Decanter.com (January 2024)
This estate has been on a roll of late, fashioning outstanding wine after outstanding wine, and the 2017 Chateau Pedesclaux is terrific. Based on 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot, aged in 40% new oak and representing just 60% of the total production, it reveals a vivid purple hue as well as perfumed notes of cassis, violets, and graphite. Incredibly elegant, balanced, and with silky tannins, it’s a classic Pauillac that’s already approachable yet will evolve for 20 years or more.
Drink 2020 - 2040
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (February 2020)
About this WINE
Chateau Pedesclaux
One of Pauillac’s less well-known estates, Ch. Pédesclaux is well situated in front of Mouton Rothschild and Pontet-Canet. The property’s history dates back to the early 19th century when Urbain Pédesclaux – a renowned trader on the Bordeaux marketplace – acquired some vineyards put up for sale following the Revolution and established the estate in 1810. Symbolising the bourgeoisie’s arrival in the Médoc (previously under aristocratic rule), Urbain Pierre Pédesclaux set about building the estate’s reputation. When the wines of the region were classified in 1855, Ch. Pédesclaux was granted the title of Fifth Growth.
The estate was acquired by Françoise and Jacky Lorenzetti in 2009. Over the next few years they purchased new parcels, almost doubling the property’s footprint from 26 to 50 hectares. The vineyards underwent significant work with soil studies and replanting, and in 2014, Ch. Pédesclaux opened a new chapter, its vineyards fully restructured and an impressive new gravity-fed winery and cellaring facilities.
Pauillac
Pauillac is the aristocrat of the Médoc boasting boasting 75 percent of the region’s First Growths and with Grand Cru Classés representing 84 percent of Pauillac's production.
For a small town, surrounded by so many familiar and regal names, Pauillac imparts a slightly seedy impression. There are no grand hotels or restaurants – with the honourable exception of the establishments owned by Jean-Michel Cazes – rather a small port and yacht harbour, and a dominant petrochemical plant.
Yet outside the town, , there is arguably the greatest concentration of fabulous vineyards throughout all Bordeaux, including three of the five First Growths. Bordering St Estèphe to the north and St Julien to the south, Pauillac has fine, deep gravel soils with important iron and marl deposits, and a subtle, softly-rolling landscape, cut by a series of small streams running into the Gironde. The vineyards are located on two gravel-rich plateaux, one to the northwest of the town of Pauillac and the other to the south, with the vines reaching a greater depth than anywhere else in the Médoc.
Pauillac's first growths each have their own unique characteristics; Lafite Rothschild, tucked in the northern part of Pauillac on the St Estèphe border, produces Pauillac's most aromatically complex and subtly-flavoured wine. Mouton Rothschild's vineyards lie on a well-drained gravel ridge and - with its high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon - can produce (in its best years) Pauillac's most decadently rich, fleshy and exotic wine.
Latour, arguably Bordeaux's most consistent First Growth, is located in southern Pauillac next to St Julien. Its soil is gravel-rich with superb drainage, and Latour's vines penetrate as far as five metres into the soil. It produces perhaps the most long-lived wines of the Médoc.
Recommended Châteaux
Ch. Lafite-Rothschild, Ch. Latour, Ch. Mouton-Rothschild, Ch. Pichon-Longueville Baron, Ch. Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, Ch. Lynch-Bages, Ch. Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Ch, Pontet-Canet, Les Forts de Latour, Ch. Haut-Batailley, Ch. Batailley, Ch. Haut-Bages Libéral.
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.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
25% organic, harvested between 18 - 29 September. Sixteen months in barrel, 60% new.
Not so showy on the nose - quite restrained. Appealing, subtle floral aromatics of violet/rose petal. Soft and pleasing on the palate with a similar concentration to the 2014. 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 7% Cabernet Franc (the latter was very good in 2017) combine with fine tannins to give an elegant Pauillac with purity and freshness on the finish.
Drink 2023 - 2029
Andy Howard, Decanter.com (January 2024)
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