Pédesclaux Pauillac 2018

95 points James Suckling: "Aromas of blackcurrants, lavender, gravel, dried leaves, spice box and bitter chocolate. It’s full-bodied with firm, well integrated tannins. Creamy and succulent with a solid core of ripe fruit and a long, caressing finish. Grows on the palate. Try from 2025. (3/3/21)"

95 points La Revue du Vin de France: "The 2018 is a new benchmark; the material is luminous and the fruit, very ripe, is nonetheless dazzling, with a minty note on the finish. (2021)"

94+ points Jeb Dunnuck: "An estate that continues to shine, the 2018 Château Pedesclaux is a rich, ripe, sexy Pauillac offering loads of ripe cassis fruits as well as lead pencil, chocolate, and violets. Seemingly even richer now from bottle than barrel, it's full-bodied and has a round, concentrated mouthfeel, lots of ripe tannins, good freshness, and a great finish. A rich, powerful Pauillac, it's going to need 4-6 years to shed some baby fat but should be very long lived."

92-94 points Lisa Perrotti-Brown (Wine Advocate): "The blend is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, and it has 13.96% alcohol. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Pedesclaux comes charging out of the gate with rambunctious baked plums, warm cassis and Morello cherries scents plus hints of spice cake, menthol and fragrant earth. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers mouth-coating black fruits and spicy accents, with a soft, fine-grained frame, finishing long. (Apr 2019)"

93 points Georgina Hindle (Decanter): "Gorgeous nose, deeply perfumed and scented with dried herbs, cocoa nibs, cloves and purple flowers. Crunchy and precise on the palate with lovely detail on show. Soft and smooth with a fine and layered tannic structure, still quite taught and focussed with the impression of power and intensity, but refined in it's presentation. Lovely length, brightness and vibrancy to the fruit with lasting freshness. 4% Petit Verdot completes the blend. Drinking Window: 2027-2040. (9/21/22)"

93 points Chris Kissack (Winedoctor): "The wines of this château have undeniably demonstrated an upwards trend in quality in recent times, thanks to investments put in place by Jacky Lorenzetti, and the skill and determination of manager Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen. Having said that, the estate does not seem to have moved forward in the same manner as their other property in St Estèphe, Lilian Ladouys. I suspect it just takes longer to turn around a property as large and parcellated as Pédesclaux, especially when recent work has included a conversion to organics and trials with biodynamics. This blend, dominated by 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, showed exuberant fruit from barrel, and this has been carried through into the bottle where the dark fruit character is also joined by a subtle thread of sooty oak and fragrant freesia. The palate is full of impressive and rather floral fruit, with a succulent style, underpinned by a dense core of ripe and rather broad-shouldered tannins. It’s a good result, certainly in keeping with other recent vintages including the 2016, indeed it could well turn out to be the better wine given time. The alcohol sits a shade below 14% here. (Feb 2021)"

93 points Jeff Leve (The Wine Cellar Insider): "The savory nose comes alive with mint, cigar box, tobacco leaf, cedar, espresso, crème de cassis and blackberries. The wine is medium-full-bodied, soft, fresh, chewy, vibrant with a kick of dark cocoa, espresso, earth, spice and currants in the finish. The wine blends 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. Clearly, they continue upping their game at Pedesclaux. (3/9/21)"