Bordeaux 2016 at Two Years: The Rest of The Right
In this final report from the right bank I turn my attention to all the appellations beyond St Emilion and Pomerol. This means we have here wines from Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux, Côtes de Bourg and Lalande-de-Pomerol, not to mention several wines that have only the basic Bordeaux appellation. This latter group of wines includes some good-value entry-level reds, as well as some whites of serious pedigree, coming from some of the most famous names of the right bank who have chosen to dip their toes into the world of white.
Looking first at the red wines, where does the absolute quality lie? Not for the first time I was truly impressed by Roc de Cambes, François Mitjavile’s wine from up in the Côtes de Bourg appellation. With all its sinewy and saline black fruits it is a real chip off the Tertre-Roteboeuf block, as I conclude in my tasting note. The quality is unquestionable. As for value for money, I am note sure it really qualifies on that front, unless of course you compare it solely to the price of Château Tertre-Roteboeuf, in which case it looks like amazing value.
Among the other wines, I was really impressed by the 2016 from Château Alcée, a wine from the hands of Nicolas and Cyrille Thienpont which comes laden with similarly dark fruits, minerality and a rich, substantial texture. And this most certainly does offer good value. From the same appellation, the 2016 from Château Montlandrie was also very promising, Denis Durantou’s talent shining through here. A third very promising wine also came from another famous Pomerol name, the Guinaudeau family; the G Acte 8 is very fine, and exceeded my expectations formed during the primeur tastings. Do look beyond these three though, as there are a number of sensibly priced options for drinking here.
