Chateau St. Jean Cinq Cépages Cabernet Sauvignon 1997

BN#121915

Chateau St. Jean

Cinq Cépages ("Five Varieties") is a Bordeaux-style blend consisting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. Each component is aged separately for two years in small French and American oak barrels before blending. Once the wine is assembled, it spends six months in the bottle.

Wine Spectator

Ultrarich and chocolaty, with layers of cedar, plum, currant and black cherry, revealing uncommon depth and tiers of flavor as it picks up coffee, toffee and anise. Finishes with firm tannins. Best from 2002 through 2012. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 13,000 cases made.

Score: 96. —James Laube, November 15, 2000.

Wine Advocate

The 1997 Cinq Cepages is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, and Petit-Verdot, it boasts a super-complex bouquet of licorice, dried herbs, black currants, spice box, and cherry liqueur. In the mouth, notes of chocolate, new oak, and red and black fruits caress the palate in a medium to full-bodied, succulent style. Aged in 50% new and 50% one-year old French barrels, it is bottled with no fining or filtration. Fleshy and complex, this is California's answer to a big, rich St.-Emilion. Drinkable now, it promises to last for 12-15 years.

Score: 94. —Robert Parker, December 2000.