Good, better, best
Have you ever wanted to know more about a great wine region but didn’t know where to start? Here’s some help. We asked six of our expert contributors to sum up what makes a particular wine region great, and to choose three bottles – good (affordable), bet
Experts select three wines from six classic wine regions that show the range of quality on offer
Left Bank Bordeaux Jane Anson Decanter columnist, contributing editor & DWWA Regional Chair for Bordeaux
Left Bank Bordeaux delivers what most of us think of as the essence of this region – classical châteaux with dreaming spires, and complex, barrel-aged wines that major on savoury black fruits laced with touches of cedar, eucalyptus and mint, all capable of ageing for decades in dusty cellars.
It’s where you find many of the wine world’s most famous names, and yet it is also a large area, with thousands of wine estates, and myriad styles.
It’s easy to forget, for example, that Left Bank Bordeaux extends both northwards from the city of Bordeaux up into the Médoc peninsula and also southwards through Pessac-Léognan and the Graves.
To get to know the region, it’s worth starting with an AP Graves wine – the appellation that can be seen as the original Left Bank wine, as the name once referred to all the wines made on the gravel-heavy soils that lie to the west of the Garonne river, until individual areas were progressively defined over the centuries. Most of the wines here are made from an even blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, making for an approachable introduction to the black fruit character of Left Bank Bordeaux. They are almost always ready within two or three years of bottling, rather than the eight to 10 years that is more typical up on the Médoc peninsula.
Not as consistent in difficult vintages as the more highly prized Left Bank appellations, Graves is the place to find overperforming labels in successful years such as 2016 or 2018.
To shift up a gear, head northwards of Bordeaux city to the Médoc itself. There are two regional appellations that sit within this finger of land that extends upwards towards the Atlantic ocean. These are AP Médoc and AP Haut-Médoc – together producing much more than half of the wines from the peninsula, far more than the commune names such as Margaux, Pauillac and St-Julien. Look to the Haut-Médoc to discover some of the most exciting wines in all of Bordeaux, from classified growths such as Château La Tour Carnet to iconic unclassified estates such as Château Sociando-Mallet. The best wines are deeply coloured, age well, and express the magic that can come from barrelaged Cabernet Sauvignon blends in this particular corner of the world.
But if you want to really get to the heart of Left Bank Bordeaux, you need to head to Pauillac, with its deeply coloured wines full of cassis and blackberry fruits, powerful tannins and confident structure that age with both intensity and grace. Pauillac has among the highest density of vine planting in the Médoc, meaning about 10,000 vines planted per hectare of land, while in the cellar the winemaking tends to ensure good extraction of colour and aromatic compounds, with the resulting wine given long barrel ageing usually of 18 months to soften the tannins and add extra layers of flavour and nuance.
Pauillac’s location close to the Gironde estuary helps keep acidities fresh even in hot years, which combined with the grape varieties (62% Cabernet Sauvignon plantings) ensure the best wines are capable of ageing 20, 30, even 40 years. There are 54 winemakers in Pauillac, with a full 18 classified growths from the 1855 ranking, including three of the five first growths (Lafite Rothschild, Latour and Mouton Rothschild), but you can find brilliant examples at more affordable prices.
GOOD
Château de Chantegrive, Graves 2018 91
£ 10 (ib)-£ 17.50 Crump Richmond Shaw, Millésima One of the biggest estates in the Graves at 88ha, meaning it has a good-sized production and so is relatively easy to find across many export markets – and still in the hands of the Lévêque family who founded the property in 1966. Graves typicity comes through in the focus on blackberry fruits, tomato leaf edging and an unfussy earthiness. A gentle balance of fruit, soft tannins and fresh acidities, this is an excellent estate to look out for – and it makes a sought-after dry white also: a good reminder that AP Graves delivers both colours, unlike the Médoc peninsula appellations that are red wine only. Hubert de Boüard consults. 60% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink 2021-2030
Alcohol 13.5%
BETTER
Château Belle-Vue, Haut- Médoc CB 2016 93
£ 10.50 (ib)-£ 20 Crump Richmond Shaw, Millésima
A newly christened cru bourgeois exceptionnel in the 2020 ranking, this estate delivers consistently impressive wine and has the depth, personality and polish to be a real crowd-pleaser. I have picked a vintage that has five years of age, because Haut-Médoc wines often have so much tannin and densely packed fruit that they need a few years to soften. Dark berry, tobacco and spiced cedar unfurl slowly then hang on tight, giving excellent persistency and a sappy, mouthwatering finish. Always a high level ( 10%-20% in most vintages) of Petit Verdot that adds colour and a kick of pepper on the finish.
Drink 2021-2034 Alc 14%
BEST
Château Grand- Puy- Lacoste, Pauillac 5CC 2009 96
£ 59.58 (ib)-£ 125 Berry Bros Exchange, Bordeaux Index, Cadman Fine Wines, Cru,
Eton Vintners, Fine & Rare, Four Walls
I could have picked a first growth here – Pauillac has three – but this is a relatively good value fifth growth, making it accessible to more wine lovers, yet with so much signature Pauillac in its structure and flavours of pencil lead, liquorice, cassis and mint. On deep gravel terroir that’s made for Cabernet Sauvignon, and family owned by François-Xavier Borie and his daughter Emeline. Typically you wait for 10 years before opening classified Pauillac, or even longer in very structured vintages such as 2010 – but 2009 was a warm, generous year and is tasting great already. Drink 2021-2042 Alc 13.5% ➢