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Bordeaux Week: Introduction

Over the next three weeks I'll be focusing on three wine regions that are very important to me. Two of them make up the bulk of my cellar, especially where red wine is concerned; these are Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley. The third is not present in such huge volumes, but the wines are ones I simply could not do without; although some claim there are rivals producing wines of equal calibre, they are few and far between - if they exist at all. This third region is Champagne.

So I'll be adding three new Bordeaux profiles this week, and reviewing David Peppercorn's latest publication on the land of gravel and vines on Friday. Today is the turn of Chateau Beychevelle, a property I've not paid much attention to in past years, despite my love of St Julien as a commune. This is because Beychevelle has long been regarded as an underachiever. I must confess until recently the only vintage I had tasted was the 1989, which was very good - but critics acknowledge that this vintage is the exception to the rule. Having tasted the 1993 (a difficult vintage, admittedly) I think the criticisms levied at Beychevelle have perhaps been justified. But there is talk of a renaissance; Beychevelle may be riding the wave of generally better winemaking that has been sweeping Bordeaux over the last decade or two. Helped by a few good vintages, of course. They are not there yet, but there are definitely signs of change.

So what two other properties should I feature? Haut Brion? Léoville-las-Cases? Petrus? Sadly, no. Regular visitors will have already astutely realised I am no wine-trade luvvie, and amazingly I am not frequently invited to slurp down such esoteric wines at the chateau - certainly not when it comes to Bordeaux, anyway (the Loire is a different matter!). Fortunately, the key to drinking great wine is not always just to know the great names; rather, it is to be aware of those properties which produce great wine, but don't have the grand classification - or grand price tag. And so I have dusted down a few old tasting notes and shoved them into the limelight, to facilitate profiles on two great Cru Bourgeois properties. Both are Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel, and both threaten the lower rungs of the 1855 classification; they are Chateau Poujeaux and Chateau Phélan-Ségur. Profiles will appear on Wednesday and Thursday this week. (8/3/05)

Bordeaux Week 2005:
New Bordeaux profiles, some thoughts on Bordeaux, and a new book on the region.