2020 Château Séraphine, Pomerol, Bordeaux

2020 Château Séraphine, Pomerol, Bordeaux

Product: 20208104432
Place a bid
Neal Martin, Vinous92-94/100
Wine Advocate93-95/100
Decanter94/100
 
2020 Château Séraphine, Pomerol, Bordeaux

Buying options

You can place a bid for this wine on BBX
Place a bid
Sorry, Out of stock

Description

Merlot 100%

Martin and Nicolette Krajewski created this small estate in 2016, buying and amalgamating two other properties. Although not on the prime plateau (the vineyards are mostly on the sandy gravels of the second level, with a small pocket of blue clay), there is much to admire here. There has been major investment, with significant replanting and a new gravity-fed winery. The wine is currently pure Merlot, awaiting the maturity of the new Cabernet Franc vines. The ’20 is currently a little marked by oak tannins, but there is no denying the quality of the raw material. It is plush and succulent, bursting with juicy red fruits and an appropriate level of Pomerol “grip”. Production volumes are currently very limited.

Drink 2025-2038

Mark Pardoe MW, Wine Director, Berry Bros. & Rudd (May 2021)

wine at a glance

Delivery and quality guarantee

Critics reviews
Neal Martin, Vinous92-94/100
The 2020 Séraphine was picked from September 10 and matured in 40% new oak plus one 1,000-liter clay amphora. It has an expressive bouquet of blackberry, violets, fig and light truffle scents, all well defined and quintessentially Pomerol. The palate is crisp and fresh on the entry, delivering fine-grained tannins and very well-judged acidity that lends tension and poise. Smooth in texture, it gains weight and grip toward the finish, completing one of the best Séraphine to date. Superb. 3,200 bottles produced.

Drink 2027 - 2047

Neil Martin, vinous.com (April 2021) Read more
Wine Advocate93-95/100
This wine is made from 100% Merlot and is being aged in French oak barrels, 40% new, for 12-14 months, with a portion fermented and aging in a 1,000-liter clay amphora. The alcohol came in at 14%. Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2020 Séraphine sashays out of the glass with gorgeous notes of candied violets, dark chocolate-covered cherries and raspberry preserves over a core of juicy black plums and fertile loam, plus a waft of truffles. The medium to full-bodied palate is packed with earth-laced muscular black fruits, supported by firm, ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and mineral tinged. 3,200 bottles are due to be made.

Drink 2026 - 2047

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (May 2021) Read more
Decanter94/100
Inky purple in colour, clear concentration. Plenty of Pomerol polish and seduction in its quality of tannins and creamy texture of black cherry and damson fruits. A spiced black chocolate finish, highlights exactly why Merlot on the soils of Pomerol takes on an expression that is hard to repeat elsewhere. Juicy finish also, good quality overall. 40% new oak, with a small section in clay amphora. Just 3,200 bottles. A 2.2ha vineyard split across two plots of vines, one in the Plince sector and the other in Mazèyres.

Drink 2026 - 2038

Jane Anson, Decanter.com (May 2021) Read more

About this WINE
Chateau Seraphine

Chateau Seraphine

Find out more
Pomerol

Pomerol

Pomerol is the smallest of Bordeaux's major appellations, with about 150 producers and approximately 740 hectares of vineyards. It is home to many bijou domaines, many of which produce little more than 1,000 cases per annum.

Both the topography and architecture of the region is unremarkable, but the style of the wines is most individual. The finest vineyards are planted on a seam of rich clay which extends across the gently-elevated plateau of Pomerol, which runs from the north-eastern boundary of St Emilion. On the sides of the plateau, the soil becomes sandier and the wines lighter.

For a long time Pomerol was regarded as the poor relation of St Emilion, but the efforts of Jean-Pierre Moueix in the mid-20th century brought the wine to the attention of more export markets, where its fleshy, intense and muscular style found a willing audience, in turn leading to surge in prices led by the demand for such limited quantities.

There is one satellite region to the immediate north, Lalande-de-Pomerol whose wines are stylistically very similar, if sometimes lacking the finesse of its neighbour. There has never been a classification of Pomerol wines.

Recommended Châteaux : Ch. Pétrus, Vieux Ch. Certan, Le Pin, Ch. L’Eglise-Clinet, Ch. La Conseillante, Ch. L’Evangile, Ch. Lafleur, Trotanoy, Ch. Nenin, Ch. Beauregard, Ch. Feytit-Clinet, Le Gay.

Find out more
Merlot

Merlot

The most widely planted grape in Bordeaux and a grape that has been on a relentless expansion drive throughout the world in the last decade. Merlot is adaptable to most soils and is relatively simple to cultivate. It is a vigorous naturally high yielding grape that requires savage pruning - over-cropped Merlot-based wines are dilute and bland. It is also vital to pick at optimum ripeness as Merlot can quickly lose its varietal characteristics if harvested overripe.

In St.Emilion and Pomerol it withstands the moist clay rich soils far better than Cabernet grapes, and at it best produces opulently rich, plummy clarets with succulent fruitcake-like nuances. Le Pin, Pétrus and Clinet are examples of hedonistically rich Merlot wines at their very best. It also plays a key supporting role in filling out the middle palate of the Cabernet-dominated wines of the Médoc and Graves.

Merlot is now grown in virtually all wine growing countries and is particularly successful in California, Chile and Northern Italy.

Find out more