Bordeaux 2023 at Two Years: The Rest of The Left
In this, the first of my two ‘mopping up’ instalments of my 2023 Bordeaux report, published after my recent tastings of the wines now they have been bottled, I come to the remaining left bank appellations, those outside the big-name communal appellations of St Estèphe, Pauillac, St Julien and Margaux.
In essence this means the Haut-Médoc appellation, along with the two smaller enclaves of Moulis-en-Médoc and Listrac-Médoc. And, from the northern vineyards of the peninsula, the Médoc appellation itself.
If your interest in Bordeaux is built around a belief that the most interesting and most typical wines result from Cabernet Sauvignon planted on gravel, then this instalment of my report should be of interest. The first three of the aforementioned appellations are home to some in under-rated and overlooked areas of the valuable left-bank gravels, and there are no prizes for guessing the grape variety commonly (but certainly not always – there is plenty of Merlot here too) planted on them.
Seeking out this association leads us to Moulis-en-Médoc, where I found a quite beautiful 2023 Château Chasse-Spleen, boasting a harmonious combination of dried fruits and dark chocolate, which should drink well young but also develop some classically taut and linear style with age. Likewise the 2023 Château Poujeaux, which presents a classy nose of dark fruits dressed with touches of leather, chocolate and pepper. If the two wines have one feature in common it is the reserved, linear line they follow; they embody the classic left-bank style and should both be delicious.
