Bordeaux 2014 at Two Years: AC Bordeaux
When I started visiting Bordeaux for the primeur tastings and for in-bottle reports such as this one I never imagined that I would be dedicating a page to the generic Bordeaux appellation. While I have known for a very long time that there is good drinking and good value in this section of the Bordeaux arena – after all, I was drinking the wines of Château de Parenchère when I was a student, and I am beginning to think that was a very long time ago now – these were wines that tended to crop up on wine lists and supermarket shelves, they weren’t wines to buy by the case, en primeur.
Since then I have realised there is more to this sector than hard-working and worthy wines like those I drank 25 years ago. There are many notable names using this appellation, either to explore new terroirs like the Guinaudeau family at Château Grand Village, or to make novel wines not catered for by grander appellations, such as the many white wines that seem to be popping up all over the region. This brief report really focuses on those wines, and there are some superb values here.
The Wines
In number the wines tasted here are more white than red, the latter represented by a little trio bringing up the rear. It is not a trio value-conscious drinkers should overlook though. The 2014 G Acte 6, made by the Guinaudeau family from their base at Château Grand Village (pictured below) is a wonderfully complex melange of dark cherry, currant and dark chocolate. In a world seemingly filled with unaffordable Bordeaux, this is a wine that certainly piqued my interest. The wine is the result of years of meticulous work; Jacques Guinaudeau and family investigated many local vineyards, digging test pits (presumably with the owner’s permission, although the thought of surreptitious soil surveys conducted by moonlight fills me with joy) and grading each parcel on a scale of one to five. If it rated highly enough, they would make an offer to buy.
