Bordeaux Red Blend Buys
Bordeaux Red Blend Buys – The wine regions of Bordeaux are a large number of wine growing areas, differing widely in size and sometimes overlapping, which lie within the overarching wine region of Bordeaux, centered on the city of Bordeaux and covering the whole area of the Gironde department of Aquitaine.
The Bordeaux region is naturally divided by the Gironde Estuary into a Left Bank area which includes the Médoc and Graves and a Right Bank area which includes the Libournais, Bourg and Blaye.
The Médoc is itself divided into Haut-Médoc (the upstream or southern portion) and Bas-Médoc (the downstream or northern portion, often referred to simply as “Médoc”).
Bourdeaux Red Blend Buys – There are various sub-regions within the Haut-Médoc, including St-Estèphe, Pauillac, St.-Julien and Margaux and the less well known areas of AOC Moulis and Listrac.
Graves includes the sub-regions of Pessac-Léognan and Sauternes (among others), and Sauternes in turn includes the sub-region of Barsac. The Libournais includes the sub-regions of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol (among others).
There is an additional wine region of Entre-Deux-Mers, so called because it lies between the Garonne and Dordogne rivers, which combine to form the Gironde.
This region contains several less well known sweet wine areas of Cadillac and St. Croix de Mont.
Bordeaux Red Blend Buys – Pauillac
Boudeaux Red Blend Buys – Pauillac is a well-regarded a commune and appellation on Bordeaux’s Médoc peninsula.
It is home to some of the world’s most famous and expensive red wines, wines made predominantly from the Cabernet Sauvignon grape variety.
Over hundreds of vintages, the châteaux and their winemakers have become very skilled at emphasizing the individuality of their vineyards.
There is general agreement that the styles of those “top three” châteaux are discernibly different.
Overall, however, there is still an identifiable Pauillac wine style: full, rich, and characterized by the classic cassis-and-cedarwood aromas of oak-aged Cabernet Sauvignon.
They are typically regarded as having the most powerful tannic structure of the Médoc communes, and are often capable of long aging in the cellar.
Cabernet Sauvignon usually accounts for 50 percent of most blends, and perhaps two-thirds or more of many Cru Classé wines.
Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Carmenère, Petit Verdot and Malbec are also permitted for use under the Pauillac appellation laws. In a few examples Merlot can be prominent.
Bordeaux Red Blend Buys – Pomerol
Pomerol is a much-respected red wine appellation in the Bordeaux region of southwestern France, known for its red wines based on Merlot.
Both historically and physically, Pomerol stands apart from other Bordeaux appellations.
It does not conform to the accepted image of a Bordeaux wine district with a long-established, château-laden area, boasting an all-important (if slightly outdated) classification system.
Pomerol is none of these things, yet has managed to earn itself a place among the world’s most revered wine region.
Pomerol has no formalized wine classification system (as do the Médoc, Graves, Sauternes and Saint-Émilion), and has risen to its current glory in a relatively short space of time.
While the appellation was barely acknowledged in the middle of the last century, wines like Pétrus and Le Pin (note the lack of the “château” title) now command higher prices than many cru classé properties in the long-established Médoc.
Pomerol’s place in the international wine world is secure for some time to come, given the continuing increase in demand for prestigious wines and the limited production of this small, quality-focused appellation.
Merlot is the dominant grape in Pomerol and plays a large part in making the wines rich, smooth and approachable at an early age, while also being capable of extended aging.
Cabernet Franc is also often present, adding structure and an element of savory spice.
The prevalence of Merlot has its risks for Pomerol, as it does for neighboring Saint-Émilion.
Merlot is an early-flowering variety and is susceptible to spring frosts.
In the season of 1991, for example, spring frost damaged a large proportion of Pomerol’s vines.
In fact this only served to increase the market value, where demand already far outweighed supply.
Producing arguably the archetypal Left Bank red wine, Saint-Julien might not boast a first growth but this small appellation is highly-regarded for the consistent quality of its red wines.
Sandwiched between the more famous appellations of Pauillac and Margaux, Saint-Julien is sometimes unfairly overlooked because it does not have a first growth chateau in the 1855 Bordeaux classification. Pauillac has three of the five Médoc first growths and Margaux has one.
Saint-Julien makes up for this by being home to 11 classed growths, which generate three-quarters of the appellation’s output.
Five of these are highly rated second growths: Châteaux Léoville-Las Cases, Léoville Poyferré, Léoville Barton, Gruaud-Larose and Ducru-Beaucaillou.
The first three were once a single estate, which would have been exceptionally large for its time.
The third growths are Langoa-Barton and Lagrange with châteaux Beychevelle, Branaire-Ducru, Talbot and Saint-Pierre in the fourth growth tranche.
All but the latter property are likely to be familiar to most collectors – Château Saint-Pierre is relatively small with 17 hectares (42 acres) of vineyard which supply a wine made at the unclassified Château Gloria.
Almost every acre of the Saint-Julien commune is covered with vines, except for a strip about 500 meters (1600ft) wide on the silted banks of the Gironde estuary to the east.
The total vineyard area of the appellation covers approximately 900 hectares (2200 acres).
Chateau Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse 2022
Bordeaux Red Blends from St. Emilion, Bordeaux, France
97 Points
$165
The 2022 Château Beauséjour (Duffau-Lagarrosse) looks to be another brilliant wine from this incredible terroir located just outside the village of Saint-Emilion.
Based on 69% Merlot and 31% Cabernet Franc resting in 68% new oak, it sports a dense purple hue as well as a floral, intense bouquet of cassis, liquid violets, black cherries, truffly earth, and graphite.
Hitting 14.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.5, it’s full-bodied and has a pure, layered, opulent mouthfeel and just about perfect tannins.
There’s a little bit more clay in the soils at this estate (there’s still plenty of limestone) which gives the wines plenty of power and richness, and the 2022 holds onto a beautiful sense of elegance.
Blend: 69% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Franc
Chateau Belair-Monange 2018
Bordeaux Red Blends from St. Emilion, Bordeaux, France
96 Points
$220
Château Bélair-Monange combines the terroirs of the most privileged sites ofSaint-Émilion.
The limestone from the central plateau parcels offers freshness,minerality, and delicate, lingering aromatics, while the dense, blue clay of theslopes provides intensity, length, and a unique elegance to the wine.
Blend: 90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc
An incredible expression of Merlot grown on limestone soils, the 2018 Château Belair-Monange (90/10 Merlot and Cabernet Franc) sports a dense purple hue as well as powerful notes of blackcurrants, kirsch liqueur, flowery incense, chalky minerality, and white truffle.
Rich, full-bodied, and beautifully concentrated, it’s a serious 2018 offering integrated oak, ripe yet building tannins, and one hell of a great finish.
The finest vintage of this cuvée I’ve tasted, it’s a wine to seek out and hide in the cellar for a good 5-7 years.
It’s going to evolve for 30-40 years.
Chateau Cos d’Estournel 2019
Bordeaux Red Blends from St. Estephe, Bordeaux, France
97 Points
$200
Silky, delicate and immensely profound, the 2019 vintage embodies the quintessence of Cos d’Estournel.
Multi-faceted, it delivers aromas of cinnamon and jasmine alongside fine mineral notes and a touch of spice that perfectly structures the wine through its finish.
A dazzling expression of the estate’s terroir, exceptional and full of grace, Cos d’Estournel 2019 is an alluring vintage with universal appeal that promises many wonderful years of cellaring.
The Barrel Sample for this wine is above 14% ABV.
Powerful and enjoyable Cos. Needs to be given time in the glass to reveal the impressively velvety texture, and the sheer depth of bitter black chocolate, black truffle and coffee notes.
The tannins sit back and then build slowly to full bristling impact by the close of play.
Feels extremely sophisticated, with the always-present Cos glamour.
This was a vintage where the heat was starting to be worrying until the September rains that began around 22nd, and helped bring the Cabernet back into a more classical line, and away from the extremes of 2018.
Blend: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot
Chateau Figeac 2019
Bordeaux Red Blends from St. Emilion, Bordeaux, France
97 Points
$275
The color of the 2019 with its deep, brilliant, amaranthine red hue and bright purple glints testifies to the beautiful ripeness of this vintage.
The nose is intensely aromatic, pure and reveals great finesse.
Our Cabernets find their full expression through notes of flowers and fruit, such as blueberries and Mara Des Bois strawberries.
Delicious and dense on the entry to the palate, the wine develops harmoniously on the mid-palate with the gentle, enveloping texture of the Merlot.
Showing exceptional length of favor, the wine maintains a balance that follows right through to the finish, in which the fine, mineral texture of the Cabernets is elevated by the freshness of the fruit flavor.
2019 will go down in the history of Château-Figeac as one of its benchmark vintages.
Blend: 36% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot
Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2022
Bordeaux Red Blends from Pauillac, Bordeaux, France
$100
95 points
The name Grand-Puy, already mentioned in documents from the Middle Ages, comes from the ancient term “puy” which means “hillock, small height”.
True to its name, the vineyard sits on outcrops with a terroir similar to that of the Médoc’s first growths.
From Since the 16th century the property remained attached to a single family from generation to generation, in a direct line through marriage until 1920, before connecting with another family in 1978—the Borie.
The 2022 Grand Puy Lacoste was picked from 7 to 23 September and contains more Merlot due to the high quality of the fruit, matured in 75% new oak.
There is 14.2% alcohol. Therefore, this lends this GPL a little more precocity and sensuality compared to other vintages, not cut from the same “classical” cloth as, say, the 2019 or 2020.
Underlying this velvety veneer are enticing traits of freshly-rolled tobacco and undergrowth.
The palate is medium-bodied with finely-sculpted tannins.
Silky smooth in texture, so much so that it belies that backbone underneath.
There is a peacock’s tail of mineral-rich, quite peppery black fruit on the finish, completing a Pauillac endowed with huge potential.
Chateau La Conseillante 2021
Bordeaux Red Blends from Pomerol, Bordeaux, France
$230
95 Points
A superb effort that transcends the challenges of the vintage, the 2021 La Conseillante offers up a beautifully perfumed nose of wild berries, raspberry coulis, violets, exotic spices and vine smoke.
Medium to full-bodied, supple and enveloping, it’s a sensual, seamless wine that’s deep and layered, structured around supple tannins and lively acids.
Perfumed and penetrating, the 2021 isn’t the most powerful wine this estate has produced, but it brilliantly exemplifies the rare structural elegance and almost Burgundian aromatic range that so often set this great estate apart from the rest of the Pomerol appellation.
It’s a blend of 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc
Chateau Leoville Las Cases 2020
Bordeaux Red Blends from St-Julien, Bordeaux, France
$230
97 Points
Léoville Las Cases is reminiscent of a hypothetical blend of the 1999 and 1996—only better.
Offering up incipiently complex aromas of cassis, plums and dark berries mingled with loamy soil, cigar wrapper and exotic spices, it’s full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, with superb amplitude and concentration, velvety tannins, lively acids and a long, penetrating finish.
Uniting classicism and charm, it exemplifies how a great terroir, exigent agronomy and meticulous winemaking can deliver greatness even in a less propitious vintage.
It’s a blend of 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc and a mere 5% Merlot
Chateau Troplong Mondot 2022
Bordeaux Red Blends from St. Emilion, Bordeaux, France
$100
96 Points
The power of the ‘terroir’ tempered by the glistening fruit.
The aromatic richness enhanced with elegant precision creates the perfect balance of elements that respond to one another.
The 2021 Troplong Mondot shows considerable promise, exhibiting aromas of plums and wild berries mingled with notions of sweet spices, rose petals, vine smoke and raw cocoa, followed by a medium to full-bodied, seamless palate endowed with impressive intensity and texture.
Built around beautifully refined, powdery tannins and lively acids, it concludes with a long, mouthwateringly saline finish.
Macerations here were long but gentle, including a long cold soak before fermentation, and the blend, after much deliberation.
Blend: 85% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Cabernet Franc.
Bordeaux Red Blend Buys – Saint-Émilion
Bordeaux Red Blend Buys – Saint-Émilion is an appellation and key wine town in the Libournais district of Bordeaux’s Right Bank.
It is important for both the quality and production volume of its red wines, which are almost always based on Merlot.
There have vineyards around Saint-Émilion since Roman times, and today the Saint-Émilion wine appellation is one of the most prolific in the Bordeaux region, generating more than 250,000hl of wine each vintage.
It is also responsible for some of the most prestigious, long-lived and expensive wines in the world.
Wines such as Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Figeac and Pavie, sell for hundreds of dollars per bottle, are all situated in and around Saint-Émilion. Only red wine qualifies for the appellation; a little dry white wine is made within the appellation borders, but it must be labeled as Bordeaux Blanc.
Bordeaux Red Blend Buys – Saint-Estèphe
Bordeaux Red Blend Buys – Saint-Estèphe is one of the many famous Left Bank red wine appellations of Bordeaux, known for reds based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
Saint-Estèphe is situated at the northern end of the Haut-Médoc region (just south of the Médoc appellation that runs north to the Pointe de Grave and the Bay of Biscay).
The region, like its prestigious cohorts, Pauillac, Saint-Julien and Margaux, lies on the gravelly western shores of the Gironde estuary.
It is separated from its famed southern neighbor, Pauillac, only by a stream, yet there are significant differences between them.
With 1,229 hectares (3036 acres) Saint-Estèphe accounts for eight percent of the vineyard area of the wider Médoc.
Because Saint-Estèphe is marginally further from the gravel-bearing waters of the Garonne river, the soil here is far less stony than that found in the southern part of Haut-Médoc, around Bordeaux city.
Instead, a heavy clay and a limestone base dominates this area, resulting in poorer-draining soils, delayed ripening and higher acidity levels in the wines.
