This offer transports us to the single most influential Cabernet Sauvignon-growing region on the planet, Bordeaux’s Left Bank. To put an even finer point on it, we’re visiting one narrow stretch of gravel that hosts an unparalleled density of world-class, Cabernet-dominated vineyards.
Saint-Estèphe is home to legendary properties such as Cos d’Estournel, Montrose, and Calon-Segur. Head south a few minutes and you arrive at the neighboring doorsteps of Mouton-Rothschild and Lafite-Rothschild in Pauillac. This is truly the epicenter of the Left Bank—and ground zero for some of the most punishingly expensive wines in existence. After a few years of evolution in the cellar, this 2011 Saint-Estèphe offers everything one expects from this tiny and historic region—dark fruit, impressive depth, and complex structure. The only thing missing is the three-figure price tag!
I’ve been infatuated with the 2011 vintage recently. Initially tannic and aromatically shut down, many 2011 Bordeaux reds are coming out of their shell and showcasing classic structure and gorgeous aromas. This 2011 from Château La Peyre is one of my favorite examples, and proof of how a little patience with cellar aging can unleash unbelievable quality and value. With five-plus years of age, this wine has shed its tough youthful armor and is drinking gorgeously now. This vintage is not built to last a century, but currently it’s entering a 5-7 year window of peak drinking, with classic Left Bank depth at a surprisingly fair price.
Château La Peyre’s founders, Dany and René Rabiller, hail from a long line of respected vignerons who were growing grapes for the local cooperative and larger châteaux long before the family estate could have its own winery. In fact, it wasn’t until 1994 that the Rabillers were able to realize their dream and open their own facility. The winery and the family’s eight hectares are ideally situated in the Marbuzet village of Saint-Estèphe, and since founding their winery, the Rabillers have guided La Peyre through two decades of increased quality and volume. This is one of my favorite off-the-beaten-path estates in the region. There is an ever-present rusticity and purity to the wines that recalls the best old-school Bordeaux of the 1970s and ‘80s.
As with all great wines, the one truly indispensable part of the equation at Château La Peyre is the soil. Dany and René’s 30+-year-old vines sit on a patchwork of gravel, limestone, and a small amount of clay. The gravel offers optimal drainage; limestone imparts the striking mineral intensity; and clay is instrumental in retaining necessary moisture during the area’s parched summers. Dany and René are ruthless in their vineyard maintenance. Vines are pruned aggressively in winter and 'green harvested' throughout the growing season in order to increase concentration and ripeness when the grapes are finally hand-harvested in the fall. Although these efforts simultaneously lower yields and profits, the benefits are evident in the glass. Château La Peyre offers impressively consistent, robust and concentrated wines, even in cooler years, and this wine affirms the old cliché that great wine is made in the vineyard.
Still, this family’s obsession with quality doesn’t stop in the vineyards. Following harvest, grapes are meticulously sorted, then are left to enjoy a slow, gentle cuvaison (maceration) in their small cellar, which allows optimal extraction of color, tannins, texture, and flavor. Their wines are aged between 12-15 months in 30% new French oak, which buys the sometimes rambunctiously youthful wine some time to ease into adolescence. The final destination of this lengthy process is a densely structured, layered, complex Bordeaux.
Château La Peyre’s 2011 Saint-Estèphe “Cru Artisan” coats the glass with wave of concentrated crimson and garnet. If you want classic Left Bank aromatics, this is it: black currant, black plum, cedar, wet clay, graphite, tar—it’s all here in spades. Bottle age has softened this wine considerably, and now, it is deep and satisfying on the palate. Please decant one hour before serving in large Bordeaux stems at 60-65 degrees, and don’t hesitate to lay a few bottles down—it’s got at least 5 more years of peak drinking ahead of it. Nothing beats the heady aromatics and cedary savor of aged Bordeaux, so be sure to showcase it with a main-course dish. This is no apéritif. Enjoy!
