2021 St Pierre (St Julien)

A château that readers need to have on their radar, the 2021 Chateau Saint-Pierre (Saint-Julien) reveals a deep purple hue as well as medium-bodied aromas and flavors of spicy currants, black cherries, leafy tobacco, and graphite, with nicely integrated background oak. Medium-bodied, round, and supple, with solid mid-palate density as well a good sense of elegance in its tannins, this textbook, impressive Saint-Julen will shine for a solid 15-20 years if well stored. The 2021 is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, aged 14 months in barrel.

The 2021 Saint-Pierre has enjoyed a strong run of form in recent vintages, but for 2021, it's a couple of paces behind Gloria. Notably tight on the nose, it doesn't quite have the amplitude of Gloria, showing strict black fruit laced with graphite. The palate is medium-bodied with a sapid entry, plenty of black fruit here, cohesive with a finish that shows more elegance than it did out of barrel, making me feel confidence about its future.

The 2021 Saint-Pierre is a dark, brooding wine. Black fruit, gravel, spice, menthol, licorice and lavender add to an impression of somber intensity. There's good depth and drive, even if some angular contours remain. As always, Saint-Pierre shows the more brooding side of Saint-Julien. It's all there in 2021.