Château Capbern 2023

Warm fruit, cool core; rich, powerful, ripe-fruited, dense, with pronounced tannins and good length. A powerful wine that can age.

Highly perfumed and fragrant nose, full of purple flowers and dark fruits. Bright and super fresh, almost too much, but then settles quickly into salty, stone-edged tannins that give a metallic tang to the palate. A little lean and straight, not much density but there’s concentration and a sense of quiet power from start to finish. Not so charming but precise and focused. Nice juiciness too, very St-Estèphe, with a real clean grip to the finish. Will be nice to see after ageing. 12% press wine. 3.7 pH. 45 hl/ha yield. Ageing 18 months, 60% new French oak. Highest percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend at 69% with 1% Cabernet Franc completing the blend.

69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, 1% Cabernet Franc. 45 hl/ha. Cask sample. Big, powerful wine with a firm tannic frame. Fruit ripe but with a hedgerow nuance. Smooth attack but slightly chewy finish. (JL)

The 2023 Capbern has a light bouquet with tertiary black fruit laced with cedar and pencil box scents, perhaps a little Pauillac in style. The palate is medium-bodied, with gentle grip on the entry. A little softer than the preceding Le Prieuré, more approachable as a result, building toward the finish, whose tannins linger. Commendable in terms of cohesion, and with a dash of black pepper, this is a fine Capbern that should age well in bottle.

Spearmint, tobacco leaf, chocolate, cedar, cherries, and currants pop from the aromatic profile. The palate takes it a step further with its richly textured layers of sweet, ripe black fruit, with notes of sea salt and mint on the finish. This is showing much better in bottle than it did in barrel, which is always a good thing. The wine blends 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, and 1% Cabernet Franc. Drink from 2028-2040.

Restrained start, red-berry contours, wax notes and black olives. On the compact palate with a austere texture, grainy extract and medium body. In the straight finish, black pepper and floury astringency. Rounded off.

Full of character, the graphite side of St Estèphe is more evident now in bottle than it was En Primeur. You still get the spice of a hot vintage and the warmth of the higher alcohol, but it remains juicy, with highly spiced dark fruit and plenty of personality. 45 hl/ha yield, 60% new oak for ageing, harvested from 6 to 30 September.

The bouquet still clearly shows its ageing through notes of toast, which somewhat restrains its freedom of expression! And yet, isn’t the heading for Bern dedicated to democracy? With aeration, hints of black berries and mint bring fruit and freshness. Carried by an airy texture, the wine follows a linear, precise course. It is underpinned by a structuring, lively acidity, while the tannins provide a reliable backbone! A charming teenager who still needs to finish tidying their room, but knows exactly how to organise it! The outlook is therefore very promising.

A connoisseurs’ gem (in the Calon Ségur team), 2023 suits it well. 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Merlot, the remainder in Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. A bright, deep color. A Cabernet-driven wine on first nosing, concentrated and rich, with an impressive, finely woven tannic structure. As for yields, 45 hl/ha, something not seen since 2017, with exceptional flowering, no shatter, no mildew, a rainless summer, and cool nights leading to slow Cabernet ripening: they will be gently infused to limit extraction. Very vinous, sapid, earthy—an aristocratic model to lay down in the cellar, or not!

93-95. Barrel Sample. With ripe black fruits and juicy acidity, the wine has rich freshness. It is juicy, backed by tannins and dark-black fruits. The wine should develop with distinction over many years.

Youthfully taut, but there's a decidedly fresh edge here, as red currant and black cherry coulis notes ripple through with tobacco, warm paving stone and chestnut leaf accents in lock step. Violet echo at the very end. Nicely done. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. Best from 2027 through 2038.

Deep, intense colour. The nose is highly aromatic—refined, fruity, pure, subtle and fresh, very much in the Margaux style. With a swirl, a creamier undertone emerges. Delicate on the attack, very flavoursome on the mid-palate, with hints of vanilla intertwined with fresh fruit and floral notes; the wine melts across the palate, delicious and noble. Long, complex aromatic finish. A great success. I re-tasted the 2022 alongside it. They’re on a par! Bingo!