Château Cabos 2019

Welcome to Château Cabos—the family estate of our friend Brigitte Mestreguilhem— located in Rauzan, just a handful of miles from storied Saint-Emilion. Here the clay and limestone soils are particularly well-suited to Merlot, as evidenced by this elegant Bordeaux. Château Cabos comes from the excellent 2019 vintage, a year that critic Jeb Dunnuck declared was “a beautiful, incredibly high-quality vintage for Bordeaux.” One sip of the wine’s expressive fruit flavors and you’ll not only discover that Brigitte’s team had their pick of perfectly ripe grapes, but you’ll also understand why it won gold medals at two of France’s top competitions.

A most-delicious blend, Château Cabos is primarily velvety, plum-rich Merlot. Bordeaux’s most popular grape variety, Merlot accounts for a whopping 65% of plantings across the region and it thrives in the silty, clay soils of the Right Bank, near Rauzon. A healthy slug of Cabernet Franc completes the picture by adding depth, firmer structure, and vibrant, red-fruit characters.

Brigitte recommends decanting her Bordeaux an hour before serving to unleash its full flavor complexity. Then, enjoy a glass with firm, aged cheeses like farmhouse Cheddar or Parmesan. An ideal special-occasion dinner wine, Château Cabos would also pair perfectly with roasted lamb, beef, duck breast or dark-meat poultry.