The results I tasted from both Clos Cantenac and Château Séraphine are downright delicious. Distinctly different from the two previous vintages, the reds are slightly more approachable at this stage than their predecessors, and they have a decisively bordelais flair. The rosés and white crackle with freshness and structure. All made in very small quantities, these are worth seeking out.
Read MoreWhen Fabrice Reynaud, the fifth-generation custodian along with his brother Philippe, asked if I would be interested to taste their flagship estate's 2020 en primeur wines, I was happy to do so. Sure, I was interested to taste some Graves wines from Bordeaux's excellent 2020 vintage, but I was also deeply curious to taste wines from Château des Places. Because in 1859, a large stash of Roman coins - one of the largest found in France - was found in the vineyards that a few years later began the legacy of this château. A Roman winemaker is purported to have buried them in 49 BC. How could a history buff refuse?
Read MoreGraves is where Bordeaux's first vineyards were planted, yet the AOC remains a bit off the radar. This is one of many areas in Bordeaux where good potential lies for a high ratio of quality to value. This is especially true of wines that are not part of the Crus Classés de Graves, which account for only 16 of the 200 vignerons. Here is a small tasting of bottled 2019s from select producers sent directly from the properties this late spring.
Read MoreAdrien Surain - with his two uncles - is making wines in the spirit of what I dubbed "Today's Bordeaux" in a report on affordable Bordeaux wines that I began a few years back. Eye-catching labels are paired with fruit-driven wines priced at very accessible prices. (Those listed below are approximate were the wines to be found in the US market.) I love the packaging, the fresh perspective and the humor, and I wish Château Surain much success in this new era.
Read MoreOnce again, Martin Krajewski and his daughter, Charlotte, deliver focused, precise wines with immediate appeal yet evident ageability. Each offers ample delight, but as with the 2019s, I find an electrifying je ne sais quoi element with the Clos Cantenac.
Read MoreChange is afoot in Bordeaux as one steps away from the classified growths and luxury cuvées for which the region is well-known, but which in reality only reflect a small portion of wine production. Higher proportions of "spice rack" varieties and less new oak - not to mention a much more experimental approach to fermenting and aging vessels - shape the resulting wines. Here are three innovative reds - all made by women - that I recently tasted. The Hors-Série is a new fave!
Read MoreToday’s Bordeaux is affordable Bordeaux. No, I’m not talking about the 2019 En Primeur campaign, where prices are being slashed despite the most recent declarations of “the vintage of the century” in the face of the challenges presented in bringing the wines to market in the face of COVID-19. Rather, I’m talking about the 90%+ of Bordeaux wines that are sold outside of the En Primeur system. In fact, many sold within the En Primeur system are highly affordable, too. The fanfare at the precipitous (price-wise) top of the quality pyramid has distracted far too many consumers for far too long. During the same time, quality was skyrocketing while prices throughout most the region remained modest.
Read MoreA world almost entirely closed to travel, a cancelled Bordeaux En Primeur Campaign and persnickety, new DHL compliance requirements in the US are nothing compared to the tenacity of Martin Krajewski, owner of Château Séraphine and Clos Cantenac. And so it was that I held a mini En Primeur chez moi.
Read MoreFive communes comprise the Côtes de Bordeaux, and they're a curious bunch, geographically speaking. While technically all on Bordeaux's Right Bank, they don't sit together, save Francs and Castillon.
Read MoreLast week I had the pleasure to taste a broad range of 2014 vintage wines from across the Bordeaux landscape while instructing at the Masters of Wine Residential Course in Napa. The theme - as I mentally noted it - was Bordeaux 2014 in Napa 2019.
Read MoreBordeaux En Primeur 2016 was my first, verging-on-excellence En Primeur campaign. The top end turned out wines that were easy to be choosy about. So much the better when you’re forking over big digits two years before you receive the wines. The vintage also allowed for plenty of charming wines that will be pleasant to drink as well as ones that are overly ambitious. Regardless the appellation, it was exciting to see who teased out just a bit more of everything in their expressions of the vintage through their terroir.
Read MoreAnother year, another en primeur campaign. How long this system can sustain itself? It seems every year the fuse gets shorter. What 2015 offers is a highly mixed bag. There’s something for everyone, but without careful research, everyone may not love what he or she purchases.
Read MoreThere’s a sad misperception that Bordeaux is either utterly unaffordable or really, really bad. It’s true that most of us don’t buy much of super fancy stuff these days as their prices are, indeed, dizzyingly high. However, even in difficult vintages, Bordeaux – like the rest of the world – generally makes darn good wine today.
Read MoreThe 2010 and 2012 show vibrantly rich fruit with tendancies toward the blacker end of the fruit range. The 2011 shows the most perkiness, both in its redder fruit character as well as its refreshing acidity and lower alcohol. The 2014 white is fresh and highly drinkable.
Read MoreWine folks – myself included – often look skeptically upon Bordeaux Supérieur. What’s so superior about a few extra years of vine age in a region that actually keeps its vines quite young? Sure, Supérieur wines age at least nine months before release as well, often in some sort of barrel…but, they don’t have to. At least Supérieur doesn't refer to a half percent of extra alcohol here.
Read MoreWhen I see Pomerol, I envision one of those old school cash registers, the ones with dollars popping up one after another on metal blades behind a glass window. Pomerol is a sort of insurance policy for high quality wine. You pay extra for the name, but you sweat less as you wait for your dining companions’ verdicts.
Read MoreWith 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, this blend is particularly generous in Cabernet Sauvignon for an Haut-Médoc. The Bordelais eat lots of meat with their husky reds, so I naturally turned in that direction.
Read MoreMerlot isn’t a grape that particularly moves me, except when it comes from Saint-Émilion. Yes, those wines are blended with Cabernet Franc and sometimes Cabernet Sauvignon, but Merlot almost always predominates in both flavor and structure. From Saint-Émilion comes Merlot in all its svelte, not hefty, glory. That’s a style I can relish.
Read MoreIt is such a shame that the wine world these days makes a proclamation on a vintage just as it slides out of its fermenter into an aging vessel. (In fact, it’s often done well before.) Dialed-in wine lovers know it’s absurd, but many still dose-up on the fear of buying the wrong vintage. A fine example is Bordeaux’s 2011 vintage, which is still a bit tight and wound-up, yet it is opening up now to offer some excellent, mid-term drinkability.
Read MoreChâteau La Grande Métairie 2014 Entre-Deux-Mers: Youthful, fresh and exuberant, this 56% Sauvignon Blanc, 35% Sauvignon Gris and 9% Muscadelle blend is the epitomy of bang-for-the-buck, true-blue Entre-Deux-Mers. Its producer is neither trying to make it a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc nor is it “oaking-it-up” to try to make a flashier, less characteristic wine for the appellation.
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