Ormes de Pez - Saint-Estèphe 2020

Wine Advocate

91

byWilliam Kelleythe4/6/2023

Aromas of sweet cherries, berries and spices framed by creamy new oak, introduce the 2020 Ormes de Pez, a medium to full-bodied, ample and fleshy wine that's polished and seamless, with a generous core of fruit and an extroverted, charming profile.

Wine Spectator

92

byJames Molesworththe3/31/2023

Fresh and direct, with lilac and savory notes running with a core of damson plum and red cherry coulis. Reveals a piercing iron note on the sneaky long finish. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2024 through 2034.

Jeb DUNNUCK

92

byJeb Dunnuckthe3/30/2023

A blend of 54% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the 2020 Château Ormes De Pez offers up a great perfume of red and black currants, sweet tobacco, sandalwood, and spice. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, with ripe tannins and good overall balance, it's another terrific 2020 that offers pleasure even today yet will evolve for 15+ years if well stored.

The Wine Cellar Insider

92

byJeff Levethe3/22/2023

Nuances of smoke, chocolate and spice along with a bushel of ripe blackberries and currants offer up their fragrance with no effort. On the palate, the wine is even better with its layers of ripe, sweet, creamy, black and red fruits, olives and cocoa that hold your interest. This is going to be delicious with only a modicum of aging. Drink from 2024-2038.

Vinous

90

byAntonio Gallonithe2/24/2023

The 2020 Ormes de Pez is a very pretty, fragrant Saint-Estèphe that will drink well right out of the gate. Crushed flowers, sweet red berry fruit, mint, spice and white pepper lend terrific brightness throughout. The 2020 is not terribly complex, but it is very easy to like and drink. Charming.

Vinous

91

byNeal Martinthe2/15/2023

The 2020 Ormes de Pez has held on to its Pauillac-inspired bouquet with touches of pencil shaving littered amongst the tightly-knit black fruit, then brine aromas percolating up with aeration (I give this 20 minutes to open). The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, cohesive yet maybe just missing the mid-palate weight and concentration of say, the Cazes's Lynch Bages or Haut-Batailley. Fresh and saline on the finish. Give it two or three years in bottle.

Jamessuckling.com

92

byJames Sucklingthe1/16/2023

Bitter chocolate, blackberries, dried mint and tobacco leaves on the nose. Firm and linear, with a medium body and tight tannins. Tangy acidity. Sharp and clear cut. 54% merlot, the highest percentage ever, the rest cabernet sauvignon with a touch of petit verdot. Better in 2025.

Vinous

88-90

byAntonio Gallonithe6/1/2021

The 2020 Ormes de Pez is a pretty wine, even if it feels a bit light. Dried herbs, tobacco, mint, dried flowers and earthy tones lend aromatic nuance to this attractive, mid-weight Saint-Estèphe. It would be nice to see a bit more depth. Perhaps that will come with élevage.

Jeb DUNNUCK

90-92

byJeb Dunnuckthe5/28/2021

Lots of plums, blackcurrants, tobacco, and loamy soil notes make up the bouquet of the 2020 Château Ormes De Pez, and it’s medium-bodied, with some chocolaty background oak, good purity of fruit, and ripe tannins. I don’t see any reason this shouldn’t easily be an outstanding Saint-Estèphe and drink well for 15-20 years.

Vinous

90-92

byNeal Martinthe5/27/2021

The 2020 Ormes de Pez, which has gradually moved to a more Merlot-dominated blend over the last decade, is aged for 16 months in 45% new oak. It has a nicely detailed bouquet of a mélange of red and black fruit – cranberry, blackberry and a touch of blueberry – accompanied by cedar and subtle wild mint aromas; it is actually quite Pauillac-like in style. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins and chewy in the mouth, quite compact at first. A strong saline, almost briny element comes through toward the finish, which is more quintessential Saint-Estèphe. This is a more backward and less finessed wine compared to the Cazes family’s Lynch-Bages or Haut-Batailley, but there is commendable length and character, not to mention a very attractive openness, to this wine.

Decanter.com

93

byJane Ansonthe5/25/2021

Blueberry, raspberry and cassis, there is concentration but also juice. Merlot-dominant (following a restructuring of the vineyard to better align grapes with terroir) with bite and freshness. A lovely smoky edge here, this is another successful vintage for Ormes de Pez. 4% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 3.69ph. 45% new oak. A yield of 42hl/ha which was not as low here as at Lynch Bages because of more clay in the soils, and because the Merlot was less impacted by the drought than the Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Wine Cellar Insider

92-94

byJeff Levethe5/21/2021

Things keep getting better and better here and 2020 is no exception. The nose, with its spicy personality also shows forest leaf, tobacco, pepper, black and red fruits and earthy nuances. On the palate, the wine is rich, round and ripe. It's packed with sweet, fresh, polished, juicy red berries on the mid-palate and in the open, soft textured finish. Forward in style, this should drink quite well with just 3-4 years of aging. 92-94

Wine Advocate

90-92

byLisa Perrotti-Brownthe5/20/2021

Composed of 54% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, to be aged for around 16 months in French oak barriques, 45% new, the 2020 Ormes de Pez has an alcohol of 13.17%, a pH of 3.69 and an IPT of 79. Deep garnet-purple colored, it springs from the glass with notes of plum preserves, blueberry compote and Morello cherries, plus hints of graphite, wild mushrooms and sautéed herbs. The medium-bodied palate delivers plenty of herbs-laced black fruits with a pleasant chewiness to the texture and lovely freshness, finishing on a lingering fragrant-earth note.

Jamessuckling.com

92-93

byJames Sucklingthe5/12/2021

A firm, lightly chewy red with blackberry, blueberry, spice and some chocolate. Medium body and fine tannins. It grows on the palate. Tannins sneak up at the end. 54% merlot, the highest percentage ever, the rest cabernet sauvignon with a touch of petit verdot.

Anthocyanes

89-91

byYohan Castaingthe5/11/2021

Mure, un peu variétal, des notes de fleurs. Graphite et épices pour un joli nez. La bouche est droite, tannique pour une structure moyennement dense et une finale longue.

My Bettane + Desseauve

90

by Bettane & Desseauvethe5/7/2021