CHÂTEAU CAPBERN
2015 Saint Estèphe
A much more modern wine than anything produced when it was called Capbern Gasqueton. A big dense-fruit nose, a purple-fruit filled velvet punch, all very well-integrated. The front-end is incredibly impressive with all the dark berry fruit depth to the flavour. It takes its time to open up in the middle and finish. Very ripe, with a sophisticated élevage in barrel, this is a lot of wine for the money. Drinking range: 2020 - 2026L&S (May 2020)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot. Tasted even better (than at the two general tastings where previously seen) at Calon (The Calon team make it), sappy and cool and fresh. It has a very nice unmucked-about-with frankness, a cool flow of fruit and defined black cherry on the finish. Rating: 90-91 L&S (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Capbern has a thoroughly enjoyable, finely delineated and focused nose, with a mixture of red and black fruit, cedar and light sandalwood scents. The palate is medium-bodied and very sapid, with crisp tannins, decent length and impressive weight on the finish. It's a bit uncompromising but this should repay cellaring and deserves a higher score than I gave it before. Tasted blind at the 2015 Bordeaux Ten-Year-On tasting at Farr Vintners. Drinking range: 2028 - 2045 Rating: 90 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2025)
The 2015 Capbern has a ripe and intense bouquet of black cherries, raspberry and touches of iodine, perhaps just a little more extraction than its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly rustic tannin, just sagging a little in the middle where I would prefer more flesh, although it may fill out with time. It just fades a little on the finish. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting. Rating: 88 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jul 2019)
Dark cherry, plum, violet, lavender, licorice and menthol notes infuse the 2015 Capbern. Pliant and inviting, with lovely fruit density, the 2015 is a terrific choice for drinking now and over the next decade or so. The 2015 speaks to balance and harmony above all else. Like all Saint-Estèphes in this vintage, the 2015 lacks a bit of stuffing. Even so, the 60% new oak is nicely integrated. The blend is 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. Tasted two times Drinking range: 2020 - 2020 Rating: 89 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2018)
This is structured and very linear with superfine and polished tannins. It’s full-bodied yet reserved and held back with such tension and focus. Full-bodied, fine and chewy on the finish. Drinking range: 2020 - Rating: 92 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2018)
The assemblage here is 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. A very fresh, pure nose, with scents of dried black currants, damsons, juniper berry and that curranty note. Quite cool, fresh, a bright structure on the palate, with a vibrant hue. On the palate it shows a medium body, with ripe tannins presenting a fine-to-medium grain. Fresh acids, giving a very bright and clean middle. Dark fruits, blackcurrants especially, but in a stony frame, elegant. Fresh and cool, with a good potential. Rating: 14.5-15.5/20 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2016)
68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot. 47 hl/ha. 60% new oak. Bright crimson. Racy nose. Lighter than some vintages. The oak is just a little sweet and obvious at this stage. Pretty astringent finish. 13.7% Drinking range: 2023 - 2030 Rating: 16.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2016)
Rating: 90 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2016)
Great freshness of bountiful, ripe fruit and fine ripeness from 68% Cabernet. A lovely wine from perfectly managed vineyards. Drinking range: 2019 - 2028 Rating: 90 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Capbern (formerly Capbern Gasqueton) is a blend of 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot, to be matured in 60% new oak over the next 18 months. This is the first time that Petit Verdot has been included in the blend from new plantings, around ten-years-old now. It has a crisp blackberry and bilberry scented bouquet, quite linear, a floral aspect emerging after a couple of minutes in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with quite a structured opening, a decidedly more masculine Capbern Gasqueton in the making, with a slight tinniness towards the finish. Give this 3-4 years in bottle for the jaggedness in those tannins to soften. Drinking range: 2019 - 2030 Rating: 88-90 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Capbern is striking. Pliant, open-knit and seductive, the 2015 offers lovely radiance and superb balance, especially at this level. Black cherry, plum, mint and violet notes are laced into the aromatic, silky finish. There is so much to like in this forward, fruit-driven Saint-Estèphe. The blend is 68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot and 4% Petit Verdot. Rating: 88-90 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
Damson plum and bitter cherry notes are lined with savory and tobacco hints. Fresh, though a little shy on stuffing through the finish. Rating: 86—89 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2016)
Very fine and polished with lovely integration and finesse. Medium to full body, fresh finish. Harmony here. Rating: 90-91 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Mar 2016)
Château Capbern
The Gasqueton family of Calon Segur also own this excellent estate situated south of the town of St Estephe, between the vineyards of Montrose and Phelan Segur.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.