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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 91.1 pts. and median of 92 pts. in 52 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by HU on 5/18/2024 & rated 91 points: PnP. Still young and quite tannic. Typical Bordeaux. Dark, medium to full body. Dark fruits, licorice, spices, leather. A decent wine, though I was hoping for more. Perhaps in a few years? (287 views) | | | Tasted by jschoenau on 3/29/2024: unknown date and state (1031 views) | | | Tasted by BadOyster on 3/14/2024 & rated 93 points: Nicely done new world Bordeaux, with striking fruit and Bordeaux savory characteristics. (1075 views) | | | Tasted by FRFTF on 2/13/2024 & rated 93 points: A little sedimented and ruddy.
Some pencil lead, cedar, currant.
Smooth and full.
Pleasantly surprising finish. (1290 views) | | | Tasted by twoheadedguy on 1/14/2024 & rated 92 points: Beautiful aromatics, flowers and pipe tobacco. Dark blue fruits, cool ash and graphite. Grippy tannins and bold finish. Bit of a hole between mid palate and finish. Great BDX value. Needs time. Will wait 5 years before opening another. (1586 views) | | | Tasted by MicklethePickle on 12/26/2023 & rated 92 points: Another nice bottle on PnP. Has that certain something dark, shiny, glossy appearance. Very fine, classy, suave fruit nose. Rich and full fruit in the mouth, too. This is delicious now, probably even better with more bottle age, I it is so tasty now it is tough to keep my hands off it. 5-12-17-8: 92/100. (1582 views) | | | Tasted by MicklethePickle on 11/25/2023 & rated 93 points: PnP. Very tasty stuff. Just coming into its own at 8 years, with many years ahead. Has it all: gorgeous, rich appearance; beautiful floral aromas; ripe but firm fruit in the mouth; and extremely reasonable price. Right up there with the best of what Parker used to call the sleepers of the vintage. 5-12-17-9: 93/100. (1612 views) | | | Tasted by KL1975 on 11/14/2023 & rated 91 points: Very full-bodied, lots of structure and depth. Tannins still a bit coarse, needs time, but very good potential, 91+. (1514 views) | | | Tasted by MicklethePickle on 8/19/2023 & rated 92 points: Pretty good right off the bat on PnP. Excellent viscous, opaque, dark red. Nose really beginning to strut its stuff with fine minerality, great fruit, and fine ripeness that is nicely restrained. Well-done in the mouth, a TAD sharp, but the overwhelming impression is one of good balance, excellent flavor and accessibility already. This has years to go to be at its best, but no sin in enjoying this now for its charming youthful attributes. This was a hell of bargain at $32. 5-13-16-8: 92/100. (1839 views) | | | Tasted by Cincinnatus on 4/17/2023 & rated 93 points: A big wine. This has thrown significant sediment in the cellar these last 4-5 years. Dark red, opaque, brooding. Solid fruit. Puckered lips. Not a wine for everybody. This is a wine to spend some time with. Not what I expect from Saint-Émilion, but I like it. No sharp edges, nothing off putting. Black fruit dominant. Very good. Looking forward to the next visit with this wine in 3-6 months. (2346 views) | | | Tasted by MicklethePickle on 4/2/2023 & rated 91 points: Opened last night. Dazzling appearance. Deep, dark, brooding. Both last night and today, this is really showing a lot of oak, though in a good, well-integrated way. Seems to be going through a bit of a transition phase. More tertiary elements emerging. 5-12-16-8: 91/100. (2307 views) | | | Tasted by MicklethePickle on 1/30/2023 & rated 92 points: Opened last night, but has evolved only glacially in 20 hours. Looks the part of a great wine: Rich, concentrated, saturated dark red, with bold red legs. Purple, floral, fruity aromas lurk in the nose, but largely cloaked by something at the moment; seems ready to burst, almost. Similar impression in the mouth: loads of fruit currently masked by a high wall of tannin and oak, plus some acid. This needs about five years to really show how nice it can be. For now, better be having some smoked, roasted meat if you opt for drinking before then. 5-12-16-9: 92/100. (2814 views) | | | Tasted by SMHalps on 12/23/2022 & rated 90 points: From a magnum, opened, but not decanted for over an hour before pouring. This was part of a 16-person magnum night with my wine group. My first bottle of this wine, regardless of the vintage. It came after the food was gone, and all I really have is a memory of an impression of this wine. Low tannins. Enjoyable, but not memorable. (2643 views) | | | Tasted by Montesquieu on 11/21/2022: Second bottle in a month and just as good as the last, which I rated 94. Chose this to go with an exceptional cut of peppercorn Wagyu tenderloin. This rich, bold, spicy Merlot paired perfectly. This wine is excellent young. Maybe it'll improve, but I have no reservations about recommending it now. (2681 views) | | | Tasted by Scamber on 11/17/2022: Glad I took others’ advice and tried one now. This is not built for long haul in my opinion - first night it’s quite layered and rich, would def not guess St Emilion. Really enjoyable, good QPR.
But after being recorked and tried again on night 2, it had weakened considerably. Fruit cooked, alc out of balance. I’ll drink my last one in near future. (2290 views) | | | Tasted by Montesquieu on 10/5/2022 & rated 94 points: Popped my first of six bottles early in the drinking window to see if this is worth the (Dunnuck #1, Vinous, Wine Advocate) hype. Is it? For $50, sure. It's an extracted style full of ripe blueberries and plum. Unlike so many New World Bordeaux blends, this is balanced and not cloyingly syrupy. Parker would fawn. My personal tastes now prefer elegance and beauty, but for what this is and its price point, I'd rate it an unmitigated success. I don't think I've ever rated a young New World cab <$50 higher than this. Bordeaux wins again. Do I recommend drinking now? Yes - no reason not to. This has the stuffing for 20 years more age, but it's not tannic, and one can enjoy its big juice now. Eventually age will complicate this with secondary flavors, and I'm not sure transition or reincarnation will outshine today's youth. I'm not urging anyone to rush to drink, and I won't myself, but I personally think mixing this extracted style with secondary flavors introduces risk. I'll manage my risk by enjoying some earlier. Did Dunnuck and the pros wisely lead us to discover a wine of merit? You bet, unless you hate extraction. (2749 views) | | | Tasted by MicklethePickle on 6/11/2022 & rated 94 points: Popped and poured. Gorgeous ruby – magenta. Stains the glass reddish purple. Glorious knows of Mulberry and Cassis. Beautiful rendering in the mouth as well. From a half bottle, this is tasting pretty good already. Plenty of stuffing for the long haul though. 5-13-17-9: 94/100. (3124 views) | | | Tasted by Juliansi on 12/29/2021: Oak and plum notes and after some coaxing with an electrical gadget aeration, some chocolate notes came through too. Thanks for bringing this @[1|9482449|Mika Tyson Teau], Jade OUG Chinese 10 course banquet with E, Z and our families. Quite an unexciting wine but improved somewhat when paired with the Iberico Ribs ?? platter and great dishes.. Very early NY Eve luncheon!!!
This marks my 222nd ?? wine notes for 2021... (2731 views) | | | Tasted by Jack on 10/6/2021 & rated 94 points: Poured a small glass and then saved the rest for the next night. While good the 1st night it was a little tight as expected. 2nd night it came alive. Great value. (4248 views) | | | Tasted by Bob23 on 9/2/2021 & rated 91 points: Still quite dense, even with an hour or two of air - I think it’ll be better with time, but it’s super primary and monolithic at the moment. Not bad at all, particularly given the price, but… (3858 views) | | | Tasted by Rupesh on 4/30/2021 & rated 90 points: Dark / Violet color. On opening, very tight nose and packed fruits - Taste of blueberry, tart cherry, tobacco. I think more cellar time is needed for this to evolve. Will also wait several hours to pour second glass. (4535 views) | | | Tasted by Clark W Griswold on 2/2/2021 & rated 90 points: Pnp. Pours inky and almost black. Concentrated, extracted, hedonistic, over the top style here. Blue and black fruits are packed in there. Oaky. Full bodied and rich. I don’t love it at this stage. Think almost caymus in style. Happy to have experienced this merlot. Will wait 3-5 years before trying again. (4859 views) | | | Tasted by DFBW on 12/19/2020 & rated 91 points: First look at my case of this highly rated St Émilion Grand Cru - from a Château tipped for a big future from a good vintage. Drunk over two nights and I actually found the freshness of the fruit on day one preferable. Beautifully aroma in large bowl of a glass followed by deep dark and bold black fruits with some spice on the back end. Fairly full-bodied but by no means too chewy. Good wine with a lot of potential to develop into something more complex but fairly one dimensional at this early stage - will check back in a year or two. (4490 views) | | | Tasted by Willtryagain5yrsafterImdead on 11/28/2020 & rated 93 points: 3 hour decant. Precocious notes of spice and forest floor complement an intense black fruit nose. The rich, dense, and concentrated palate presents bags of fruit and is certainly full bodied but not overly extracted or heavy as some here have suggested. Evolving perhaps a bit more rapidly than certain critics projected, this big wine represents a superb value but may leave the faint of heart clutching their pearls. (3896 views) | | | Tasted by ieatprawnsss on 9/5/2020 & rated 90 points: Primary blackberries and plum, with a hint of ripe red cherry. High extraction, alot of oak. Plenty of stuff here, but really needs to sit for 10 years to settle in. It should get better from where it is now, but lacks the acidic backbone to really be set for the long run. (4166 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Panel Tasting
Decanter, St-Emilion 2016: panel tasting results (3/4/2023)
(Château Sansonnet, Merlot, St-Émilion, Bordeaux, France, Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jeb Dunnuck
JebDunnuck.com, Bordeaux 2016: Firing On All Cylinders (2/28/2019)
(Chateau Sansonnet Red) Login and sign up and see review text. | By James Suckling
JamesSuckling.com (1/13/2019)
(Château Sansonnet St.-Emilion, Red, France) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, 2016 Bordeaux…It’s All In The Bottle (Jan 2019) (1/2/2019)
(Sansonnet Sansonnet Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Neal Martin
Vinous, The DBs: Bordeaux 2016 In Bottle (Jan 2019) (1/1/2019)
(Sansonnet Sansonnet Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jane Anson
Decanter, St-Emilion 2016 in bottle (10/10/2018)
(Château Sansonnet, St-Émilion, Bordeaux, France, Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, 2016 Bordeaux: It’s Now or Never, Baby (Apr 2017) (4/17/2017)
(Sansonnet Sansonnet Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By James Suckling
JamesSuckling.com (4/4/2017)
(Château Sansonnet St.-Emilion, Red, France) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jane Anson
Decanter, Bordeaux En Primeur 2016 St-Émilion Part 2 (4/2/2017)
(Château Sansonnet, St-Émilion, Bordeaux, France, Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Chris Kissack
Winedoctor, April 2017 (4/1/2017)
(Château Sansonnet St Emilion Red) Subscribe to see review text. | By Jancis Robinson, MW
JancisRobinson.com (3/15/2017)
(Ch Sansonnet St-Émilion Red) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Decanter and JebDunnuck.com and JamesSuckling.com and Vinous and Winedoctor and JancisRobinson.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Château Sansonnet Producer website - Read more about Chateau SansonnetRed Bordeaux BlendRed Bordeaux is generally made from a blend of grapes. Permitted grapes are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and rarely Carménère.Today Carménère is rarely used, with Château Clerc Milon, a fifth growth Bordeaux, being one of the few to still retain Carménère vines. As of July 2019, Bordeaux wineries authorized the use of four new red grapes to combat temperature increases in Bordeaux. These newly approved grapes are Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
Wineries all over the world aspire to making wines in a Bordeaux style. In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to identify wines made in this way. Although most Meritage wines come from California, there are members of the Meritage Association in 18 states and five other countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, Israel, and Mexico.France Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comBordeaux Bordeaux Wine Guide
Vins Bordeaux (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux)
History of Bordeaux
History of 1855 Bordeaux Classification
"2009 is all about ripeness, with wines impressively packed with ripe fruit and high alcohol levels. They are showy, in-your-face, and full of pleasure. The 2010s have the fruit and alcohol levels of the 2009s, but with a compelling freshness on the finish that balances the fruit and provides a perfect sense of structure." - Ben Nelson
"2016 is a landmark vintage in certain spots of Bordeaux and it should be remembered as one of the most inspired campaigns of the last 40-50+ years." -Jon Rimmerman
"The quality of red Bordeaux in 2016 was universally lauded – although the response to the en primeur campaign was muted. Quantity was high too, with the equivalent of 770 million bottles of wine produced. An exceptionally dry summer with cool nights eventually, thanks to mid September rain, resulted in small, thick-skinned, ripe grapes, and the wines are marked by high tannin and acidity, with superb aromatic fragrance." - Jancis Robinson
"2017 was complicated, but there are some excellent wines. Expect plenty of freshness and drinkability from wines that will offer excellent value, and others that will rival 2016 in terms of ripeness and ageability. But they are likely to be the exception not the rule, making careful selection key." - Jane Anson
"In the past, a vintage such as 2022 may have been overripe, raisined and low in acidity but 2022 had a sneaky little reservoir in its back pocket - a near perfect marriage of cool/cold/rain the previous winter and the previous vintage that literally soaked the soils (a key to why 2022 is not 2003...or 1893)." - Jon RimmermanLibournais Libournais (Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux) - Read more about St. Emilion and its wines - Read more about Pomerol and its wines
Saint Emilion Grat Classified Growth, Classified Growths, Grands Crus Classes, GCC
In 1954, while the "Graves" growths had just published their own classification, the wine syndicate of Saint-Emilion, composed by wine growers, brokers and wine traders with the approval of the INAO - Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (A.O.C), decided to work on a classification for the wines of Saint Emilion. Initially, four grades were defined. These were reduced to two - First Great Classified Growth (A and B) and Great Classified Growth - in 1984.
As of Medoc's 1855 historical grading, the Saint-Emilion Great Classified Growth classification is not only based on qualitative criteria by tasting the wines on a ten years period previous to the assessment, but also on commercial considerations such as:
- sales price levels
- national and international commercial distribution
- the estate's reputation on the market
Properties who don't manage to join the club of about sixty Classified Growths are given the denomination of Great Growth ("Grand Cru"), while the remaining wineries of the A.O.C are simply reported as "Saint-Emilion". It is to be noted that the owners must officially apply to appear in the official classification. Thus for example the famous Chateau Tertre-Roteboeuf, whose quality and reputation would easily justify to be listed among the First Great Classified Growths, does not appear here by the will of its owner, François Mitjaville.
The Saint-Emilion Great Growth classification was revised in 1969, 1985, 1996 and 2006. The only two guaranteed vintage (A.O.C) who can apply to the classification are the "Saint-Emilion Grand Cru" and "Saint-Emilion" areas.
By grading 61 properties, the 2006 revision confirmed many growths from the former classification, but also caused a number of surprises and a few inevitable disappointments. Many observers thought that the impressive progression of Perse's Chateau Pavie since 1998 would be rewarded by an upgrade into the First Great Classified Growths (A) category, but finally such was not the case.
Among the estates promoted to the First Great Classified Growths B category are Chateau Troplong-Mondot and Pavie-Macquin, whose efforts made since the Nineties fully justify their new grade. It should be noted that no First Great Classified Growth was relegated to the lower Great Classified Growth class.
Promoted growths from the status of Great Growth ("Grand Cru") to Great Classified Growth ("Grand Cru Classe") are: Chateaux Bellefont-Belcier, Destieux, Fleur Cardinale, Grand Corbin, Grand Corbin-Despagne and Monbousquet.
The demoted growths from the status of Great Classified Growth to Great Growth are: Chateaux Bellevue, Cadet Bon, Faurie de Souchard, Guadet Saint-Julien, La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Belivier), La Tour du Pin-Figeac (Moueix), Lamarzelle, Petite Faurie de Soutard, Tertre Daugay, Villemaurine and Yon-Figeac. If the recent samples of some of the above mentioned properties may justify their current downgrade, there are great chances that estates like Bellevue, Tertre Daugay or Yon-Figeac will be upgraded to their previous rankings by the next revision in 2016 as the progresses noted after 2000, but not entering in the range of vintages (1993 - 2002) appointed for the criteria of selection for the 2006 classification, are noticable.
The two following estates have completely disappeared from the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classification: Curé-Bon-la-Madeleine (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Canon) and La Clusière (integrated meanwhile to Chateau Pavie).
Finally, no estate considered as "garagiste" has integrated the classification. Valandraud, Mondotte, Le Dome, Bellevue-Mondotte or Magrez-Fombrauge have, for the least, the potential to be ranked as Great Classified Growths. In sight of the very fine quality reached by the above mentioned estates in recent vintages as well as all the innovative wine making methods used by the "garagistes", it remains to be seen whether the authorities will dare to cross the line in 2016..?St. Émilion Grand Cru Les Vins de St. Émilion (Syndicate Vitocole de Saint-Emilion) – Read about St. Emilion
Vins de Bordeaux:
Grape Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot
Soil: Sandy soils with alluvial gravel deposits
Surface Area: 4,160 ha |
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