Pauillac · vintage 2016
Why this vintage
- 96/100 from James Sucklingand 5 other scores above 90/100.
- The 2016 vintage in PauillacA very wet winter followed by a sun-drenched summer produced a rare balance, combining the depth of great years with genuine freshness.
Critic scores
- James Suckling96
- Decanter95
- Vinous94
- Jeb Dunnuck94
- Wine Advocate93
- Wine Spectator92
The 2016 vintage in Pauillac
Vintage benchmark: 97/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)
Vintage character: A very wet winter followed by a sun-drenched summer produced a rare balance, combining the depth of great years with genuine freshness.
Overall reading of the year’s season across Pauillac. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.
Tasting
2016 is the first vintage in the history of Château Pédesclaux to bring together all 4 grape varieties in its blend. With an intense carmine red color, this wine has a complex nose, with unique depth. Notes of blackberry jam, fleshy Burlat cherry, mint and salted butter caramel mingle with rhubarb to express a very fresh nose. The palate is full and delicious, very soft and voluptuous, without losing its density. It lingers for a long time, with an appetizing and salivating texture, backed by notes of spices, licorice and roasted hazelnuts reminiscent of biscuits just out of the oven. The expression of small wild fruits mixed with wild rose brings the liveliness necessary for a beautiful balance on the finish.
Blend of the 2016 vintage
- 48 % Merlot
- 47 % Cabernet-sauvignon
- 3 % Petit verdot
- 2 % Cabernet franc
Shares for this vintage, as recorded on the 2016 technical sheet. The vineyard itself is planted with cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, petit verdot — a vintage blend departs from the area under vine as the year dictates.
Figures from the 2016 sheet
- 35 yrsVine age
Winemaking
100% gravity
Ageing
16 months in barrels
Terroir
Beneath the vines of Pédesclaux lies a geological masterpiece whose origins date back 40 million years. It is this unique terroir, quintessentially Médoc, that the 1855 classification recognises. The château stands on a plateau of gravel overlooking the town of Pauillac; the soil is made up of clay-limestone gravels, in reality a mixture of clay, limestone, fine gravel and pebbles. These plots in fact adjoin renowned properties such as Mouton-Rothschild and Pontet-Canet. Pédesclaux works with three different grape varieties: 47% Cabernet Sauvignon for the structure of the wine, 48% Merlot for roundness, and 2% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot for aromatic complexity.
An offer on Château Pédesclaux 2016
Availability, allocations and terms: the Compagnie Médocaine will reply promptly. The estate and vintage are already filled in in the message.
Texts and documents 2016
The texts below copy in one click for your product sheets, catalogues and social channels. The printable sheet condenses the whole page onto a single A4 page.
Visuals
For this vintage, the media library contains: labels. High-definition packshots, labels, back labels and lifestyle photos are reserved for clients and partners, on the Compagnie Médocaine’s VinCod media library.
Sheet checked on September 21, 2026. Technical data: the estate’s VinCod sheets. Critic scores: sources cited above, with their date. Vintage benchmarks and character: Compagnie Médocaine’s own editorial read. Soils and relief, where shown: the Compagnie Médocaine’s parcel survey and the Mapbox/IGN terrain model.