Château Ormes de Pez 2019

Offers a delightful mix of dark fruit and fresh flavors, with plum and blackberry notes infused with dark tea, singed cedar and licorice root, all carried by sleek acidity through the finish. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Drink now through 2032.

This wine especially reflects the solar aspects of 2019, broader than linear in its rich and open-knit expression of jammy fruit. Some hints of southern France give this wine a warm and welcoming aspect, but I like the underlying tannic finesse with subtle expressions of graphite and wet stone.

This shows lots of spice, such as cloves and nutmeg, together with dark berries and cherries and some plums. It’s structured and relatively dense, with lovely length and beauty. Needs time to open and come together. 50% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon with cabernet franc and petit verdot. Lovely now. Try after 2024.

The 2019 Ormes de Pez has a more Merlot-driven bouquet (54% of the blend), a little fleshier than its peers, quite pure with raspberry and cranberry scents. Fine delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with a sapid entry, good depth, though it does not deliver the precision of Dame de Montrose and feels more muscular toward the finish. Yet that should see it age well over the next couple of decades. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.

The wine has picked up steam during the aging process. Now you find notes of flowers, peppery red fruits, cocoa, tobacco leaf, cedar and spice. The wine is fresh, lush, round and ripe, with a rich, creamy, dark red fruit packed mid-palate. This is clearly the best vintage of Ormes-de-Pez ever produced. Drink from 2024-2040.

Coming from the Cazes team, the 2019 Château Ormes De Pez is gorgeous and shines in the vintage. Pure crème de cassis, mulberries, leafy herbs, Asian spices, and lead pencil all emerge on the nose, and this medium to full-bodied 2019 has the vintage’s pure, focused, elegant style while staying ripe, supple, and textured. The balance is spot on, and it's going to hit maturity in roughly 8-10 years and have two decades of prime drinking.

Deep purple with a violet rim. Restrained, delicately smoky bouquet with hints of blueberry, followed by sloe jelly, exotic woods and vervain. On the powerful palate, a silky texture and slightly powdery extract; palpable muscle spans a well-trained frame. The focused finish shows black-berry contours paired with noticeable terroir spice and a lingering echo of morello cherry juice. Top performance!

Kunz barrel sample 2020: (40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, 14% alc./vol.) Restrained, delicately bitter bouquet, black berries, wood, smoke, subtle licorice. Firm, medium-bodied palate with good tannin, dark fruit, muscular structure, bitter finish.

(40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot, 14% vol. alcohol) Restrained, delicately bitter bouquet, black berries, wood, smoke, subtle licorice. Firm, medium-bodied palate with good tannins, dark fruit, muscular structure, austere finish. 17/20 2025 - 2038

The 2019 Ormes de Pez is a blend of 50% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it rolls out with gregarious scents of redcurrant preserves and blackcurrant cordial leading to hints of violets, dark chocolate, cedar chest, and graphite. The medium to full-bodied palate is elegant and refreshing, with lively red and black berry layers, finishing with a skip in its step.

After a lovely 2018, demonstrative and opulent, the 2019 follows suit in a fairly opulent style as well, fleshy and powerful. Very focused on black fruit, it is well-coated and its supple tannins cushion the finish.

The nose is harmonious, racy, finely tight, very discreetly restrained, and offers lovely finesse. It reveals notes of pulpy/juicy Boysenberry, pulpy/juicy strawberry, and, more lightly, pulpy blueberry, joined by small touches of crushed redcurrant, lily, violet, as well as delicate hints of camphor, grey pepper, and warm gravel/terroir. The palate is fruity, balanced, racy, elegant, and offers tension, finesse, a touch of freshness, a clear guideline, fine density, and a delightful juicy/pulpy fruit. On the palate, this wine expresses notes of pulpy/juicy strawberry, pulpy/juicy raspberry, and, more lightly, pulpy/juicy blueberry, combined with small touches of blackcurrant, cornflower, lily, fine hints of cherry, warm gravel/terroir, caramelization, tonka bean, and a subtle hint of vanilla pod and hazelnut. Lovely grain of tannins.

Dark, intense color. Moderately aromatic nose with ripe fruit. Very pleasant palate with a seamless body, fruity, rather soft. Smooth finish of medium length.

Big and full of tannins and structure, this is packed with dark fruits with a dry core. The wine's weight is impressive, density and richness. Drink from 2026.