2023 Les Ormes de Pez
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Tasting notes
A floral, complex wine, the 2023 Château Ormes De Pez offers red and black fruits, sappy spring flowers, and graphite on the nose. Medium to full-bodied, round, and supple on the palate, it has polished tannins and outstanding length. Based on 55% Merlot, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot and aged 16 months in 45% new French oak, it's a beautiful effort from this estate. Drink 2027-2040.
Critic scores
Average Score
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
Neal Martin, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2023 Ormes de Pez is a rich, potent wine. Dark-toned fruit, gravel, dried herbs, menthol, licorice and chocolate fill out the layers. This virile, somber Saint-Estèphe packs a pretty serious punch. There's a bit of burliness in the tannins, but then again, this is Saint-Estèphe.
The 2023 Ormes de Pez was rather perplexing from barrel and now in bottle, well, it seems to vindicate my tepid reaction. The nose somehow seems quite distant, missing a bit of presence and fruit concentration. The palate is better but the tannins feel obdurate, unyielding, with a grippy finish that calls for a bit more "flesh around the bones." Let's see how it shows with further bottle age.
Lots of smoky red and black fruits, leafy tobacco, minty herbs, and some crushed stone-like minerality all define the 2023 Château Ormes De Pez, a rich, medium to full-bodied, concentrated 2023 that has plenty of tannins, nicely integrated acidity, and a great finish. It's a beautiful, seriously good wine from this château that will need short-term bottle age to show at its best.
About the producer
The Cazes family – owners of Lynch-Bages – added this Saint-Estèphe Cru Bourgeois estate to their portfolio in 1940, just one year after they purchased Lynch-Bages. The property comprises 32 hectares of vines in the north of the appellation, close to the village of Pez.