Château Le Bon Pasteur Pomerol 2018

96 POINTS! And over 52% OFF?! From the family estate that gave rise to one of the world’s greatest all-time winemakers? Oh, ho, HO!!!

Le Bon Pasteur, mon ami!!! Oui, oui…WEEEEEEE!!!! We absolutely scored, good people – on one of the tippy top BEST Right Bank Bordeaux to come out of the exceptional 2018 vintage…and guess who has it at the unquestioned, unchallenged LOWEST PRICE in the entire USA?!

This guy!!! But like my high school sweetheart once said…there’s another guy…and we’ve got to talk. (Why does it still hurt?!) Anywho – trust issues and deep-rooted trauma aside – MICHEL ROLLAND! A four+ DECADE phenom in the wine world, with TONS of 95-100 point scores on BOTH sides of the Atlantic, considered by basically EVERY wine expert to be the world’s greatest master blender and wine alchemist. Truly one of the greatest tasters of all-time, and perhaps only Robert Parker has had a greater impact on the wine industry as a whole in the last several decades. That’s the Great Oz behind this shimmering curtain of vinous magic. Ok, there’s BARELY enough, so let me unplug the Monsieur Rolland hype machine and get back to business…

Le Bon Pasteur is where it all began. The estate was purchased by his grandparents, then passed on to his father, with Michel taking it over in 1979. 21 separate plots, spread across the Pomerol/Saint-Emilion border (in sight of Cheval Blanc btw), to make for a wine that is revered for combining the softness and silkiness of Pomerol, with the power and precision of Saint-Emilion. A match made in Right Bank heaven, if you ask me…or anyone else, really. 96 POINTS! Plus TRIPLE 95s, and this fantastic beauty is just entering its prime drinking days, with one critic calling it “a sexy, opulent beauty that just begs to be drunk”. 

I’m on it, and being back in the office never tasted so good! It’s floral, and earthy, and fruity, with layers of barrel spice, and a exotic flourish of truffles, with a savory hint of caveman-awakening meatiness. So complex, but so outwardly opulent and flamboyant – this is a Rock N’ Roll, stadium-filling frontman with the skill (and darkly tortured soul) to capture your heart over a 3-hour acoustic guitar solo session of melodic poetry. The violets, the cedar-y, tobacco-y smokiness, the inky blackberry and cassis, with warming plum, plus the medley of star anise, black trumpet mushrooms, and dark chocolate dipped black cherries…just…AAAAAHHHHH! The structured and intensely powerful beast has plenty of graphite and lively acidity in the backbone – ensuring this will stick around a decade or two – but it’s so BALANCED and just epically delicious…I don’t think my own stash is gonna survive to 2026! At this wicked price?!

You know what to do…

While it lasts!