Chateau Les Grands Chenes 2014
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Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Wong
Wilfred
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Blend: 65% Merlot 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 1% Cabernet Franc
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Aromas of blackberries, walnuts, chocolate and even some mushrooms. Full-bodied, dense and layered with lots of berries and dark chocolate. Fresh and vibrant. Best ever? Drink in 2021.
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Wine Enthusiast
Laden with wood as much as rich fruit, this is a fully structured wine. Dark toast is prominent at this young stage although this will go as the wine balances out. Then it will be a dense wine full of black fruits and with balanced tannins and acidity. Drink from 2021.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
Transforming the Médoc into an international star, the 2014 Château Les Grands Chênes brings power onto the palate. The wine's forceful ripe fruit flavors and excellent concentration pair it well with slowly-braised beef dishes. (Tasted: October 11, 2017, San Francisco, CA)
Other Vintages
2021-
Suckling
James
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Suckling
James - Vinous
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Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
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Suckling
James - Decanter
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Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb
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Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
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Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine - Decanter
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Enthusiast
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James
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Suckling
James
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
One of the most—if not the most—famous red wine regions of the world, the Medoc reaches from the city of Bordeaux northwest along the left bank of the Gironde River almost all the way to the Atlantic. Its vineyards climb along a band of flatlands, sandwiched between the coastal river marshes and the pine forests in the west. The entire region can only claim to be three to eight miles wide (at its widest), but it is about 50 miles long.
While the Medoc encompasses the Haut Medoc, and thus most of the classed-growth villages (Margaux, Moulis, Listrac, St-Julien, Pauillac and St. Estephe) it is really only those wines produced in the Bas-Medoc that use the Medoc appellation name. The ones farther down the river, and on marginally higher ground, are eligible to claim the Haut Medoc appellation, or their village or cru status.
While the region can’t boast a particularly dramatic landscape, impressive chateaux disperse themselves among the magically well-drained gravel soils that define the area. This optimal soil draining capacity is completely necessary and ideal in the Medoc's damp, maritime climate. These gravels also serve well to store heat in cooler years.