2018 Chateau Rauzan Gassies L’Orme de Rauzan-Gassies Haut-Médoc Bordeaux

Château Rauzan-Gassies’ 2018 L’Orme de Rauzan-Gassies is a 95-point triumph of craftsmanship and value. It flaunts the winemaking expertise and attention to detail that have made Second-Growth Rauzan-Gassies a cherished Left Bank estate, shows off a vintage made for lovers of big fruit and bold wines, and displays a dense, silky, beautifully balanced and integrated palate. 

Unlike many of its Left Bank peers, L’Orme is based on satiny Merlot, with Cabernet Sauvignon providing supporting depth, tannins, and refreshing acidity. The dark-fruit flavors give way to layers of oak, tobacco, coffee, clove, and earth, which linger through a long finish. 

The Quié family purchased Rauzan-Gassies in 1946, and though the estate is located in Margaux, L’Orme comes from a vineyard farther north, in the village of Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne. The Quiés have owned this exceptional, gravel-laden plot on the banks of the Gironde even longer than they’ve owned Rauzan-Gassies, and their expert team recognized it as a site that met their exceptionally high standards. 

The proximity to the river helped the team out immensely in 2018—a Napa Cab lover’s vintage par excellence. The hottest, driest summer in half a century yielded the sort of rich, pliant, extravagantly sumptuous wines you’d associate with Oakville, not somber Pauillac. In other words, thanks to a steady uptick in temperatures, this is not your grandfather’s claret.

Aged for a full year in French oak to polish tannins and provide the depth you’d expect from a storied producer in such a blockbuster vintage. This is one to savor over the next decade of winters.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 14.50%
• 1.5 hours
• Now – 2035
• 62% Merlot38% Cabernet Sauvignon
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork