2025 Clos de Sarpe
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Tasting notes
The 2025 Clos de Sarpe was showing a bit of reduction on the barrel sample, though there appears to be plenty of blackberry and strawberry fruit. The palate is smooth and refined, fleshy and caressing, with no hard edges here, and it flows nicely towards the finish, so that you could almost drink this now! A superb wine from this small Saint-Émilion estate.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin, Vinous
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
The 2025 Clos de Sarpe was showing a bit of reduction on the barrel sample, though there appears to be plenty of blackberry and strawberry fruit. The palate is smooth and refined, fleshy and caressing, with no hard edges here, and it flows nicely towards the finish, so that you could almost drink this now! A superb wine from this small Saint-Émilion estate.
A blend of 78% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot that's being raised 13 months in 60% new barrels with the balance in once-used oak, the 2025 Château Clos De Sarpe comes from one of my favorite estates in Saint-Emilion, and this barrel sample is absolutely riveting. A gorgeous perfume of cassis, liquid violets, graphite, and smoky tobacco nuances all shine on the nose, and on the palate, it's ripe, polished, and rounded, with the fresh, pure, focused style of the vintage and beautiful richness and depth. It checks in at 14.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.35. Tasted multiple times, it never failed to impress.
The 2025 Clos de Sarpe is a rich, seamless beauty. Blackberry, cloves, new leather, espresso, mocha and a kiss of blood orange infuse the palate. Plush contours and silky tannins wrap it all together in style. Clos de Sarpe remains quite heady and exotic in style, but it is also less pushed than in the past, an extremely positive development at this address.
About the producer
This small Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé estate is a FINE+RARE favourite. Run by Maylis Marcenat, the fourth generation of her family to do so, the 3.7-hectare vineyard has old vines and limestone soils, producing wines of incredible freshness and great ageability.