Bordeaux 2014 at Two Years: Castillon & Co.
I continue to be enamoured with the ‘lesser’ regions and appellations of the right bank. When looking for value in Bordeaux, I have long turned to the domaines of Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux. More recently I have also enjoyed a number of wines from Francs Côtes de Bordeaux, where Nicolas Thienpont keeps himself busy. He is responsible not only for Château la Prade and Château Les Charmes-Godard, but also a number of other good value offerings. Several of these peripheral appellations, including Francs Côtes de Bordeaux and Côtes de Bourg, are also noteworthy for being dual appellations, catering for white wines as well as red. This is fairly uncommon in Bordeaux, outside of the Graves and Pessac-Léognan regions at least.
The only problem (and it’s not much of a problem, to be honest) with these lesser right-bank appellations is that it is difficult to make any generalisations about them. The terroir varies greatly, from hard limestone in the Côtes du Bourg, to limestone and clay in others, through to the gravel and sand of Lalande-de-Pomerol. The same can be said of the variety; Merlot dominates in most of these appellations, but not exclusively. The slopes and valleys of the Côtes du Bourg facilitates the ripening of Cabernet Sauvignon as well as Cabernet Franc, and these varieties can play a larger role here than you might otherwise expect. The assemblage of some wines from Francs Côtes de Bordeaux might also cause a few eyebrows to rise.
Perhaps the only undisputable unifying factor here is the presence of famous names; from Durantou to Boüard de Laforest, these regions are happy playgrounds for some of the region’s leading winemakers. Happily, they turn out some pretty smart wines.
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