Is it Any Surprise that Red Bordeaux Still Commands Big Attention?
In this short year so far, our number one selling wine—red, white, rosé or sparkling—is a $12.99 red Bordeaux. Sure, it was January's Wine of the Month which drew a lot of attention to it, as all our monthly features do. But sales of that juicy, appealing red wine continued to skyrocket in February, topped only by February's Wine of the Month, the minerally-fresh Savoie white from Chevallier-Bernard.
The wines of Bordeaux have been so influential and so successful for so long, it's easy to look past them merely for variety's sake. The world's Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot producers all owe Bordeaux everything for contributing these incredible wines to our collective consciousness and ultimate enjoyment. The red wines of Bordeaux—led by historic icons like Lafite and Mouton Rothschild, Latour, Haut-Brion, Margaux and Chateau Petrus—remain the ultimate wines for many wealthy collectors in the world.
While those wines are priced out of reasonable-ness for most of us, there are still plenty of places within Bordeaux' borders that are producing their finest wines in history that we can afford. Places like Haut-Médoc, Lalande-de-Pomerol, and the Saint-Emilion satellite regions like Puisseguins and Montagne are offering compelling, plush reds for a fraction of the price of the Classified Growths codified in 1855 and beyond.
In harder economic times (the Great Recession comes to mind), the inflated prices for top Bordeaux will see an often-sudden reckoning. It's not that people don't love drinking Bordeaux; it's that they don't want to pay stupid money for their bottles, which today are more what they are on the outside than the wine inside. For those of us who just want a good glass of red wine from Bordeaux with our weekly meals, there is still good news.
As our January Wine of the Month continues to prove in March and beyond, our customers really love drinking red Bordeaux.
The Wine Country is hosting "Red Bordeaux Saturday" on March 7 from 1-4 p.m. ($30) where we will be featuring several impressive discoveries. No reservations are needed. I recall there was one such tasting right before COVID that was such a hit, we all were scrambling to meet the demand, proving that all along, Bordeaux still commands big attention.
Here are some of our favorite newer discoveries:
RIGHT BANK
2024 Chateau Milon Saint-Emilion "Caprice" – $19.99
2022 Chateau Montlandrie Castillon Côte de Bordeaux – $44.99
2022 Chateau Tournefeuille Lalande-de-Pomerol – $38.99
2022 La Chenade Lalande-de-Pomerol – $38.99
2022 Chateau Les Cruzelles Lalande-de-Pomerol – $48.99
2022 Chateau Lecuyer Pomerol – $74.99
LEFT BANK
2022 Madame de Beaucaillou Haut-Médoc – $32.99
2016 Chateau Saint Ahon Haut-Medoc Cru Bourgeois – $33.99
2022 Chateau Lalande Saint-Julien – $44.99
2015 Chateau Clauzet Saint-Estephe – $44.99
2022 Chateau Capbern Saint-Estephe – $47.99