Château Panchille Bordeaux Superior 2018

At Chateau Panchille, Pascal Sirat farms his family’s 11 hectare of Merlot and Cabernet Franc vines, rooted in gravelly soils laced with veins of iron-rich clay. He’s got fairly old vines whose roots run very deep in the poor soil, tapping the mineral groundwater far below the surface. The resulting wines are ripe but fresh, with an aromatic complexity and stony finish usually reserved for wine twice the price.

The 2018 vintage in Bordeaux was about playing the long game. It handsomely rewarded those who were patient in a vintage that looked completely doomed in the spring. It needed a perfect, hot, dry summer to salvage it — and that’s just what they got and then some.

With perfect conditions stretching on for weeks during the peak of harvest, winemakers didn’t have to all pick at once like they usually do. Instead, each could pick whenever they wanted– revealing a mix of approaches and stylistic takes.

Or with the truly great winemakers – like Pascal Sirat – multiple passes could be made picking each parcel, row, or sometimes even vine at the exact ideal time. Pascal usually hits a home run, but in 2018 he knocked it out of the park.

But with great winemakers like Pascal Sirat, the 2018 allowed them their own blank canvas, a chance to truly create the Bordeaux of their choosing, and most knocked it out of the park. The Panchille Bordeaux Superior is one of the best bargains of an outstanding vintage. Don’t miss it!