Saintayme 2019

St Emilion, Grand Cru

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Tasting Notes
The 2019 Saintayme is endowed with an impressively well-defined and focused bouquet with intense black cherries and blackberry fruit, tobacco and cedar. Plenty of energy here. The palate is quite oaky on the entry, but this is a Right Bank with plenty of stuffing, quite peppery towards the finish and demonstrating admirable persistence. Superb. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. Score: 92 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2040 01 February 2023
The 2019 Saintayme has calmed down nicely since I tasted the barrel sample, still outgoing in some ways yet displaying fine delineation and a tad more terroir expression. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins on the entry, quite sapid for this cuvée, and lightly spiced, leading to a structured finish. Don’t hesitate to leave this in bottle for a couple of years. Score: 91 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024 - 2036 01 February 2022
The 2019 Saintayme, Denis Durantou's Saint-Émilion pure Merlot vineyard, was picked between 1 and 4 October and matures in 30% new oak. It is the most outgoing of the late winemaker's sextet of wines, kirsch and crushed strawberry scents bursting from the glass with a touch of cola. The palate is fleshy and ripe with impressive weight. Good density develops towards the back end with a saline tang on the aftertaste. Give it two or three years in bottle. Score: 90 - 92 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024-2036 16 June 2020
The 2019 Saintayme, Denis Durantou's Saint-Émilion pure Merlot vineyard, was picked between 1 and 4 October and matures in 30% new oak. It is the most outgoing of the late winemaker's sextet of wines, kirsch and crushed strawberry scents bursting from the glass with a touch of cola. The palate is fleshy and ripe with impressive weight. Good density develops towards the back end with a saline tang on the aftertaste. Give it two or three years in bottle. Score: 90 - 92 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024-2036 01 June 2020
I wasn't able to taste the 2019 Saintayme from barrel, but it's solid from bottle, offering a medium-bodied, elegant profile that's very much in the style of the vintage. Ripe black cherries, mulberries, crushed stone, graphite, and sappy flowers all emerge from the glass, and it's focused, firm, and straight on the palate. It’s going to benefit from bottle age. Score: 92 Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com 11 April 2022
Produced by the Durantou family, the 2019 Saintayme is a Saint-Émilion derived from soils rich in large stones in Saint-Étienne-de-Lisse. Offering up aromas of sweet raspberries, raw cocoa, spices and rose petals, it's medium to full-bodied, bright and lively, with a fleshy core of fruit and fine, powdery tannins that assert themselves on the finish. This will reward a bit of bottle age. It's 100% Merlot, all planted on vigor-reducing riparia rootstocks. Score: 90 William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2023 - 2043 07 April 2022
This is racy and really fine with beautiful, polished tannins that run the length of the wine, It’s medium-bodied and really energetic. Hints of nutmeg. Give it a year or two, but hard to resist. Score: 93 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com Maturity: 2024+ 04 February 2022
A red with lovely, juicy character and plenty of ripe fruit and chocolate undertones. It’s rich and layered. Flavorful. More concentration than the 2018. Score: 93 - 94 James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 13 May 2020
The 2019 Saintayme is just as impressive from bottle as it was from barrel. Rich, deep and explosive, the 2019 offers up an exciting mélange of dark cherry, plum, chocolate, licorice and dark spice. I would cellar the 2019 for at least a few years. This is an especially serious edition of the Saintayme. All the elements are impeccably balanced. Tasted two times. Score: 93 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024 - 2034 01 February 2022
The 2019 Saintayme offers up a veritable explosion of sweet red cherry, kirsch and floral notes. Deep and lush, with tremendous freshness, Saintayme is terrific in 2019. In fact, this is one of the better recent vintages I can remember tasting. The purity of fruit and overall energy are both remarkable, while the harder edges and slightly savory qualities that can be present are barely perceptible. The 2019 is 100% Merlot picked between October 1 and 4. Denis Durantou's 2019s are absolutely brilliant across the board. My tasting was obviously bittersweet, as Durantou lost his battle with illness just a few weeks prior. Denis Durantou was one of the most intriguing characters in Bordeaux. I can't say I knew him well, but I always enjoyed tasting with him, as he was a person that spoke more with his eyes than with words. Things were implied rather than overtly stated. So, I tasted the 2019s with daughters Constance and Noémie over Zoom, in typical 2020 fashion. The Durantou sisters describe 2019 as a year with an early flowering and homogenous ripening that led to small, concentrated berries and higher pHs than normal. Temperatures were kept cool in the cellar, where both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations took place over cuvaison of 21 days (for all wines), in a reductive enviroment with little oxygen. From top to bottom, the Durantou 2019s are positively stellar. Don't miss them! Score: 92 - 94 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com 19 June 2020
The 2019 Saintayme offers up a veritable explosion of sweet red cherry, kirsch and floral notes. Deep and lush, with tremendous freshness, Saintayme is terrific in 2019. In fact, this is one of the better recent vintages I can remember tasting. The purity of fruit and overall energy are both remarkable, while the harder edges and slightly savory qualities that can be present are barely perceptible. The 2019 is 100% Merlot picked between October 1 and 4.Denis Durantou's 2019s are absolutely brilliant across the board. My tasting was obviously bittersweet, as Durantou lost his battle with illness just a few weeks prior. Denis Durantou was one of the most intriguing characters in Bordeaux. I can't say I knew him well, but I always enjoyed tasting with him, as he was a person that spoke more with his eyes than with words. Things were implied rather than overtly stated. So, I tasted the 2019s with daughters Constance and Noémie over Zoom, in typical 2020 fashion. The Durantou sisters describe 2019 as a year with an early flowering and homogenous ripening that led to small, concentrated berries and higher pHs than normal. Temperatures were kept cool in the cellar, where both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations took place over cuvaison of 21 days (for all wines), in a reductive enviroment with little oxygen. From top to bottom, the Durantou 2019s are positively stellar. Don't miss them! Score: 92 - 94 Antonio Galloni, Inside Bordeaux 01 June 2020
Blue fruits, earth, tobacco, as it opens you get rosebud, heather and raspberry leaf, with an austere crushed stone edge. As things open, the fruits become creamier but this could do with a few more years to fully soften. Harvest October 1 to 4. 30% new oak. Score: 92 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2024-2036 26 January 2022
Black chocolate, baked earth, liquorice root and silky smooth tannins greet you on the first attack of this wine. I've never found this the easiest to love of the Durantou range but it is strikingly successful in 2019. Silky and yet slatey in texture, this both eases you through the palate and pulls you up short, slowing things down. Sparks of fresh minerality accompany the pulsing blueberry and raspberry fruits, and the juicy finish makes this one to look out for. Score: 94 Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2027-2042 08 May 2020
100% Merlot; 30% new oak. St-Émilion brand from the Denis Durantou stable. Same vineyard has supplied the grapes since 2003. Barrel sample. Accent on the fruit with pure, dark- and red-berry aromas and flavour. Chalky tannins behind. Firm, dry finish. A little dusty but the fruit stays. (JL) 14.5% Score: 16 James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2024-2030 25 May 2020

Tasting Notes

The 2019 Saintayme is endowed with an impressively well-defined and focused bouquet with intense black cherries and blackberry fruit, tobacco and cedar. Plenty of energy here. The palate is quite oaky on the entry, but this is a Right Bank with plenty of stuffing, quite peppery towards the finish and demonstrating admirable persistence. Superb. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.

Score: 92

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2040 01 February 2023

The 2019 Saintayme has calmed down nicely since I tasted the barrel sample, still outgoing in some ways yet displaying fine delineation and a tad more terroir expression. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins on the entry, quite sapid for this cuvée, and lightly spiced, leading to a structured finish. Don’t hesitate to leave this in bottle for a couple of years.

Score: 91

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024 - 2036 01 February 2022

The 2019 Saintayme, Denis Durantou's Saint-Émilion pure Merlot vineyard, was picked between 1 and 4 October and matures in 30% new oak. It is the most outgoing of the late winemaker's sextet of wines, kirsch and crushed strawberry scents bursting from the glass with a touch of cola. The palate is fleshy and ripe with impressive weight. Good density develops towards the back end with a saline tang on the aftertaste. Give it two or three years in bottle.

Score: 90 - 92

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024-2036 16 June 2020

Score: 90 - 92

Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024-2036 01 June 2020

I wasn't able to taste the 2019 Saintayme from barrel, but it's solid from bottle, offering a medium-bodied, elegant profile that's very much in the style of the vintage. Ripe black cherries, mulberries, crushed stone, graphite, and sappy flowers all emerge from the glass, and it's focused, firm, and straight on the palate. It’s going to benefit from bottle age.

Score: 92

Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com 11 April 2022

Produced by the Durantou family, the 2019 Saintayme is a Saint-Émilion derived from soils rich in large stones in Saint-Étienne-de-Lisse. Offering up aromas of sweet raspberries, raw cocoa, spices and rose petals, it's medium to full-bodied, bright and lively, with a fleshy core of fruit and fine, powdery tannins that assert themselves on the finish. This will reward a bit of bottle age. It's 100% Merlot, all planted on vigor-reducing riparia rootstocks.

Score: 90

William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com Maturity: 2023 - 2043 07 April 2022

This is racy and really fine with beautiful, polished tannins that run the length of the wine, It’s medium-bodied and really energetic. Hints of nutmeg. Give it a year or two, but hard to resist.

Score: 93

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com Maturity: 2024+ 04 February 2022

A red with lovely, juicy character and plenty of ripe fruit and chocolate undertones. It’s rich and layered. Flavorful. More concentration than the 2018.

Score: 93 - 94

James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com 13 May 2020

The 2019 Saintayme is just as impressive from bottle as it was from barrel. Rich, deep and explosive, the 2019 offers up an exciting mélange of dark cherry, plum, chocolate, licorice and dark spice. I would cellar the 2019 for at least a few years. This is an especially serious edition of the Saintayme. All the elements are impeccably balanced. Tasted two times.

Score: 93

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024 - 2034 01 February 2022

The 2019 Saintayme offers up a veritable explosion of sweet red cherry, kirsch and floral notes. Deep and lush, with tremendous freshness, Saintayme is terrific in 2019. In fact, this is one of the better recent vintages I can remember tasting. The purity of fruit and overall energy are both remarkable, while the harder edges and slightly savory qualities that can be present are barely perceptible. The 2019 is 100% Merlot picked between October 1 and 4. Denis Durantou's 2019s are absolutely brilliant across the board. My tasting was obviously bittersweet, as Durantou lost his battle with illness just a few weeks prior. Denis Durantou was one of the most intriguing characters in Bordeaux. I can't say I knew him well, but I always enjoyed tasting with him, as he was a person that spoke more with his eyes than with words. Things were implied rather than overtly stated. So, I tasted the 2019s with daughters Constance and Noémie over Zoom, in typical 2020 fashion. The Durantou sisters describe 2019 as a year with an early flowering and homogenous ripening that led to small, concentrated berries and higher pHs than normal. Temperatures were kept cool in the cellar, where both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations took place over cuvaison of 21 days (for all wines), in a reductive enviroment with little oxygen. From top to bottom, the Durantou 2019s are positively stellar. Don't miss them!

Score: 92 - 94

Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com 19 June 2020

The 2019 Saintayme offers up a veritable explosion of sweet red cherry, kirsch and floral notes. Deep and lush, with tremendous freshness, Saintayme is terrific in 2019. In fact, this is one of the better recent vintages I can remember tasting. The purity of fruit and overall energy are both remarkable, while the harder edges and slightly savory qualities that can be present are barely perceptible. The 2019 is 100% Merlot picked between October 1 and 4.Denis Durantou's 2019s are absolutely brilliant across the board. My tasting was obviously bittersweet, as Durantou lost his battle with illness just a few weeks prior. Denis Durantou was one of the most intriguing characters in Bordeaux. I can't say I knew him well, but I always enjoyed tasting with him, as he was a person that spoke more with his eyes than with words. Things were implied rather than overtly stated. So, I tasted the 2019s with daughters Constance and Noémie over Zoom, in typical 2020 fashion. The Durantou sisters describe 2019 as a year with an early flowering and homogenous ripening that led to small, concentrated berries and higher pHs than normal. Temperatures were kept cool in the cellar, where both alcoholic and malolactic fermentations took place over cuvaison of 21 days (for all wines), in a reductive enviroment with little oxygen. From top to bottom, the Durantou 2019s are positively stellar. Don't miss them!

Score: 92 - 94

Antonio Galloni, Inside Bordeaux 01 June 2020

Blue fruits, earth, tobacco, as it opens you get rosebud, heather and raspberry leaf, with an austere crushed stone edge. As things open, the fruits become creamier but this could do with a few more years to fully soften. Harvest October 1 to 4. 30% new oak.

Score: 92

Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2024-2036 26 January 2022

Black chocolate, baked earth, liquorice root and silky smooth tannins greet you on the first attack of this wine. I've never found this the easiest to love of the Durantou range but it is strikingly successful in 2019. Silky and yet slatey in texture, this both eases you through the palate and pulls you up short, slowing things down. Sparks of fresh minerality accompany the pulsing blueberry and raspberry fruits, and the juicy finish makes this one to look out for.

Score: 94

Jane Anson, Decanter.com Maturity: 2027-2042 08 May 2020

100% Merlot; 30% new oak. St-Émilion brand from the Denis Durantou stable. Same vineyard has supplied the grapes since 2003. Barrel sample. Accent on the fruit with pure, dark- and red-berry aromas and flavour. Chalky tannins behind. Firm, dry finish. A little dusty but the fruit stays. (JL) 14.5%

Score: 16

James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com Maturity: 2024-2030 25 May 2020

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