2011 | Château Les Ormes de Pez | Saint-Estèphe | France

The Lynch-Bages team's St-Estèphe sleeper — Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel from the classic 2011 vintage, ready to pour.

Château Les Ormes de Pez has belonged to the Cazes family since 1939 — the same hands behind Grand Cru Classé Lynch-Bages — and it's long been one of St-Estèphe's most reliable overachievers. The 2011 is a classic Cabernet-led Médoc blend off 32 hectares of gravel over clay, now beautifully mature and ready to drink tonight.

Mature, cellar-ready St-Estèphe made by a first-growth-caliber team rarely costs this little. Full-bodied, complex, with dense ripe fruit and a bright edge → the Cazes' classed-growth sibling costs several times more → at $49.99 you're pouring properly-aged Bordeaux tonight.

• ~50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot
• St-Estèphe Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel; gravel over clay
• Cazes family since 1939 — the Lynch-Bages team
• Now mature and ready; drinking beautifully

"Rich, full-bodied and complex… dense tannins and equally dense fruits powered by ripe black currant, with a fresher component at the end." — Wine Enthusiast. Translation: mature cassis and cedar with St-Estèphe grip that's softened into something generous and ready.

Aged Left-Bank Bordeaux from a great team, already in its window, at a weeknight price. Exactly the bottle to open when you want Bordeaux with some bottle age and none of the wait.