J-P Moueix Corney & Barrow Company Reserve Bordeaux 2010 (£11.95, Corney & Barrow) Every spring, the Bordeaux wine business stages a commercial mating ritual known as en primeur, where producers show off unfinished wines harvested the previous autumn to merchants and press. For the past three decades, the most important player in the ritual was the American critic Robert Parker. His verdict, expressed in points out of 100, was the defining factor when . Not this year: at a February press conference in London, The Emperor of Wine announced his retirement from reviewing en primeur. Without the sales boost of Parker hype, the Bordelais will be hoping 2014 offers a return to form after some average vintages, even if it can’t match 2010, the year of this superb-value effort from the people behind Château Pétrus.
Château Margerots Bordeaux Supérieur 2009 (£9.99, Tesco) While en primeur has largely been good for lining the pockets of top Bordeaux châteaux owners, it would be hard to say the same for wine drinkers. As Robert Parker said at that London press conference, it used to be possible to buy one of the region’s great reds, Château Lafite, for $25. These days, even a mediocre vintage, such as 2013, will set you back at least 10 times that. But if there’s something alienating about the barely suppressed greed at the top of contemporary Bordeaux, it is still possible to find decent affordable claret. Own-labels from merchants such as Corney & Barrow, Berry Bros & Rudd (Good Ordinary Claret 2012, £9) and The Wine Society (The Society’s Côte de Bordeaux 2011, £8.95) are consistently good, while Tesco has a mellow example of the fine 2009 vintage from Château Margerots.
Castelnau de Suduiraut Sauternes 2009 (£11.99, 37.5cl, Majestic) Another way into Bordeaux that doesn’t require a banker’s salary is to search lesser-known sub-regions. If, say, you have enjoyed the softer, fleshier, merlot-dominated styles of St-Emilion, it’s worth looking to neighbouring Côtes de Castillon, and a wine such as the very pretty, pure Château Beynat 2012 (£13.99, thesolentcellar.co.uk; Vine Trai). In great vintages, such as 2009 and 2010, second wines from the classed growth (cru classé) producers can also offer something approaching value: Les Fiefs de Lagrange 2009 from Château Lagrange in St-Julien (£28.95, leaandsandeman.co.uk) is particularly refined and silky, while the exotic Castelnau sweet white of top Sauternes producers Suduiraut is flat-out gorgeous.
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