Ormes is elms, Pez is the village in St-Estephe where the chateau is located; the elms of Pez. Jane Anson is effusive in her praise; ‘this has become one of the best value and most consistent estates in the whole of Bordeaux, hitting it out of the park from at least the 2014 vintage onwards’. It’s an historical property, reaching back to the sixteenth century; Jean-Charles Cazes bought it in 1940, and it has been in the hands of the Cazes family ever since, benefitting hugely from the overflow of expertise and experience from the family who also own and run the great Lynch-Bages. The terroir is excellent, inland from Calon-Segur, on mainly Garonne gravels, with plenty of clay giving power to the fruit. The 40-hectare vineyard is planted to 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. The Merlot has been increased a lot over the last twenty years, with the Cazes responding to the significant amounts of clay in the soil, and this has brought more of a soft richness to a wine that has at some times had a very severe tannic structure. (NT 28/08/25)