2006 Chateau Capbern Gasqueton Saint-Estephe 750 ml

The Bordeaux that Defies Expectations

“Ten years is when Bordeaux starts to become interesting,” Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate wrote last year, revisiting 2006 Bordeaux, “and when it should assert its authority over other wine regions in terms of longevity.” After 11 years spent sleeping in a cool, dark cellar in Saint-Estèphe, the 2006 Château Capbern Gasqueton is asserting all kinds of authority — namely the majestic bottle bouquet you’d expect from a wine twice the price. Quality here stems directly from the Gasqueton family, which until 2012 also owned the legendary classified-growth Château Calon Ségur for over a century. The pedigreed 2006 Capbern Gasqueton reflects its noble origins in every way except one: price.

The Gasqueton family acquired Château Capbern Gasqueton and Château Calon-Ségur, both in Saint Estèphe, in 1894. Though Capbern Gasqueton’s production is smaller and its price tag more modest than at Calon Ségur, the meticulous vineyard care — certain parcels are actually not far from Calon-Ségur — and the broad-shouldered structure are the same. The well-drained, gravelly soil at Capbern Gasqueton produces striking concentration in the wine, adding copious amounts of black fruit and characteristic stony minerality.

When it comes to value, little competes with the 2006 Capbern Gasqueton, which has hit its stride after over a decade of cellar sleep. It is now in what the Advocate described as the “sweet spot,” the “nexus between primary and secondary” aromas and flavors — the meeting point between the winemaker’s thumbprint and the expression of terroir.