Château de Pez: Tasting & Drinking
The majority of my encounters with Château de Pez have been brief tastings, often when visiting Pichon Comtesse, but occasionally at other events, so this is certainly a story of ‘tasting’ rather than ‘drinking’. Nevertheless, it is châteaux such as this one that those of us who can no longer afford the likes of Cos d’Estournel and Calon-Ségur are being directed to these days (often by those who can still afford Cos d’Estournel and Calon-Ségur), so this property is certainly worth some discussion.
Nevertheless, it is only the most recent vintages, all made under the control of the Roederer team (which, as indicated in my history of the estate, is true of all vintages from 1996) that I can make any comment on. Of these, one of the more convincing was the 2010 vintage, which was savoury and substantial when tasted at Pichon Comtesse during the primeurs tastings. Of course this was a barrel sample and not a finished wine, and such opinions should be regarded with a note of caution, but the wine showed consistently when I came to taste after bottling in 2012.
Looking backwards from this point the 2009 vintage, also tasted en primeur, felt a little forced, but it seemed more coherent when I returned to retaste it after bottling. The 2008, meanwhile, tasted both en primeur and from bottle, always showed a composed structure, more so than the 2006. The 2002, tasted quite a few years ago now, was impressive for the vintage, one of the lesser years of the early 21st century.
Moving towards more recent vintages now, the 2011 was a good result in a more challenging vintage, and early tasted suggested it would perform better than the 2012 vintage. Skipping past 2013, the 2014 is a handsome result, in a vintage in which St Estèphe was favoured; it eclipsed the 2015 vintage, which means Château de Pez has clearly read the vintage script, as St Estèphe suffered much more rain than other left-bank appellations in this latter year.
Having said that the best vintages were yet to come, with super results in the 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022 and 2023 vintages. I was hoping for more from 2022 to be honest – the wine is good, but not the stellar result seen at other estates in this vintage – but the blend is different, being Merlot-dominant, so perhaps this is why. I also though the wine above par in 2017, a frosted year, with decent efforts in other difficult vintages such as 2021 and 2024.
Overall, Château de Pez is not an estate to be ignored. There is no doubt that under the direction of Nicolas Glumineau, with the financial backing of the Rouzaud family, the wines here have improved. And it is still early days here. This is another name to add to the list of properties, alongside Ormes de Pez and Phélan-Ségur, which are worth following in this appellation. (7/12/11, updated 8/12/12, 26/1/13, 28/12/25)
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