Château de Malleret 2023
Later this week – on Wednesday in fact – I will kick off a fresh round of reports on 2023 Bordeaux, following my recent tastings of the vintage. As a little snifter, my latest Weekend Wine choice features a young wine from this vintage.
Pulling the corks on the last few sample bottles from this vintage, largely Cru Bourgeois wines, I was reminded of a theme I last explored with the 2016 Château d’Agassac; despite a reputation for famous names and infamous pricing, in truth Bordeaux remains an excellent source of affordable wines which combine quality and value. The key to finding them is to look beyond the most jaw-dropping labels and explore less rarefied corners of the region. You can find some remarkably delicious wines this way.
On the left bank the Haut-Médoc appellation gives much in this regard, with numerous châteaux turning out classy Cabernet-dominant blends which do a good job of scratching that left-bank itch, but are priced somewhat lower than Lafite and Latour. My Weekend Wine choice is a case in point; the 2023 Château de Malleret.
The first note for Château de Malleret to appear in the Winedoctor tasting note database is for the 2015 vintage, these early encounters coming from the annual Cru Bourgeois tasting at which I have been a regular attendee since the tastings began. During the course of these tastings I really began to take notice of the estate and its wines, with the 2018 and 2019 vintages showing particularly well. It was no great surprise to see the property ranked highly in the Cru Bourgeois Classification; it was promoted to Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel in the 2020 reboot of the classification, a position which it maintained in 2025.
Château de Malleret is located in Le Pian-Médoc, one of the more southerly communes of the Haut-Médoc appellation. Although the property feels very isolated, the vineyards and cellars surrounded by dense forest, in reality this estate is located just to the west of the Southern parts of Ludon-Médoc, a stone’s throw from the aforementioned Château d’Agassac, not to mention other high-flying Haut-Médoc properties including Château La Lagune and Château Paloumey.
The estate has a rich history which cane be traced back to the 16th century, although it was with its purchase by Philippe-Frédéric Clossmann in 1860 that the estate was set on a course to modern-day stardom. The domaine remains in the hands of this family today. They hold sway over a vineyard of about 20 hectares, with general manager Paul Bordes responsible for the harvest and winemaking. He arrived on the domaine in 2013, and has overseen a restructuring of the vineyard which now favours high-density plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon. The team work with Stéphane Derenoncourt, the renowned consultant, who began advising the estate in 2014.
I think there are a lot of pointers to explain the high quality of the estate’s wines here.
In the glass the 2023 Château de Malleret presents a great colour, dark and clearly concentrated, perhaps reflecting the warmer aspects of this vintage’s story. The nose is an absolute delight, the toasted and smoky oak still apparent on this young sample parting with time to reveal a core of blackcurrant, juniper, blackberry, peppered raspberry and sweet mint. The palate convinces with its sinewy texture, which rests over a powdery backbone of tannin, but most charming of all is the delicious upper layer of blackberry spiced with notes of espresso coffee. The structure is lightly drying at the finish, which is perhaps a mark of the vintage, but overall the style is ripe and confident. Give this five years in the cellar and you will be rewarded for your patience. The alcohol is 13.5% on the label. 92/100 (12/1/26)
Read more in:
- My reports on the Bordeaux 2023 vintage
- My guide to the Bordeaux wine region
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