Bordeaux 2010 at Two Years: Haut-Médoc
It is a delight to be able to taste all the classed growth wines – as well as a couple from unclassified estates – from the Haut-Médoc appellation. Like those of Moulis and Listrac, the wines of some of the estates can be of a very high quality, and we shouldn’t let the fact that the wines are not associated with a grand commune, such as Pauillac or St Julien, dissuade us from buying or drinking them. The wines can give both pleasure and value, something we should be hunting for in a vintage such as 2010.
Three of the estates, Château Belgrave, Château de Camensac and Château La Tour Carnet lie just south of the D101 as it runs west out of St Julien, and these are perhaps worth considering first. I found the latter of the trio as listed here to be the more convincing, the wine carrying an elegant sandalwood polish alongside the fresh fruit character, and I am sure this wine will evolve in a very fine fashion. Nevertheless, both Camensac and Belgrave put on a good show here; these are not estates that have a long track record of high-level success in my opinion, nevertheless both possess some spicy, peppery promise.
