France · Bordeaux · Saint-Émilion (and surrounding communes, incl. St-Christophe-des-Bardes)
Saint-Émilion AOC
Merlot-led Right Bank reds, typically softened and lifted by Cabernet Franc: supple plum and black-cherry fruit with a fresher, more mineral, structured frame than Pomerol on the limestone plateau, and plusher, rounder wines on the clay-sand slopes.
Terroir
Two great terroir families: the limestone plateau and its clay-limestone (asteriated limestone) around the medieval town, giving freshness and structure; and the varied slopes (côtes) and sandy-gravel foot-slopes below, where clay, sand and — toward Pomerol — gravel take over.
A hilltop town ringed by vineyards, with a cool, high limestone plateau falling away to warmer clay and sand slopes; elevation and the water-holding limestone lend acidity and lift.
The limestone plateau is a natural water reservoir that keeps vines fresh and acidities high in hot, dry years — increasingly prized as vintages warm — while the deep clay pockets ripen Merlot to plush richness.
Structure tendencies
- body
- medium to full
- tannin
- medium to medium-plus
- acidity
- medium to medium-plus (higher off the limestone plateau)
- alcohol
- medium
- finish
- long in the classed growths
tendencies in prose, as read by critics/consensus — not measured ordinals
Classic descriptors
plum
in your cellar: 14 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022black cherry
in your cellar: 15 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022cassis
in your cellar: 12 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Château Pontet-Canet 2022violet
in your cellar: 13 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022dried herbs
in your cellar: 8 bottlesMayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Laroque 2022Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022chalk
in your cellar: 4 bottlesChâteau Gloria 2022Château Laroque 2022Domaine Servin Chablis 1er Cru "Forêts" 2022Château Pontet-Canet 2022graphite
in your cellar: 12 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022Château Pontet-Canet 2022iron
in your cellar: 11 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2020Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022dark chocolate
in your cellar: 11 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019L'Ecole No. 41 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2020Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Pontet-Canet 2022vanilla
in your cellar: 6 bottlesChâteau Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Château Laroque 2022truffle
in your cellar: 2 bottlesChâteau Feytit-Clinet 2015Château Laroque 2022tobacco
in your cellar: 13 bottlesLes Forts de Latour 2017Château Pontet-Canet 2021Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2016Château Léoville-Poyferré 2005Château Léoville-Poyferré 2010Mayacamas Mt. Veeder Cabernet Sauvignon 2019Château Larmande 2005Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva Rioja 2015Château Gloria 2022Château Gloria 2020Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino 2010Massolino Barolo 2016Château Pontet-Canet 2022Cabernet Franc's perfume and the limestone plateau's chalky freshness distinguish Saint-Émilion from richer, iron-savoury Pomerol; the 'limestone/chalk' association is a classical tasting-tradition pattern, not literal mineral uptake (see docs/wine-pedagogy.md §3).
Classification
Unlike the fixed 1855 Médoc list, Saint-Émilion runs its own classification that is revised roughly every ten years (1955, 1969, 1986, 1996, 2006, 2012, 2022), with promotions and demotions each time. It has three tiers — Grand Cru Classé, then Premier Grand Cru Classé 'B' and the elite 'A'. The revisions are perennially contentious: the 2006 edition was annulled in the courts, and ahead of the 2022 classification Ausone and Cheval Blanc (both Premier Grand Cru Classé A) withdrew in protest, soon joined by Angélus, disputing the criteria. (Note: plain 'Saint-Émilion Grand Cru' AOC is a separate quality tier open to any qualifying estate and is distinct from the ranked 'Grand Cru Classé'.)