For Value Wines, Bordeaux Is France’s Best-Kept Secret

Jeff Zacharia, president of Zachys Wine & Liquor, told me he sells a lot of Bordeaux, but not much in the value-price range I’d called to discuss. Wine drinkers turn to other regions for wines in this range, noted Mr. Zacharia, and up to now I’ve been no exception. In my search for good-value wines, I’ve bypassed Bordeaux for other regions of France, like the Loire and Rhône valleys, and other countries, like Italy, Spain and Portugal.

But recently I decided to take another look. After all, the quality of Bordeaux wines has never been higher, and there have never been more good vintages (2015, 2016, 2018) on the shelves at once. Of the 17 Bordeaux wines I purchased, I’d rate 14 as good to very good. Only one was priced (slightly) above my self-imposed $25 limit.

Two wines in my tasting are imported by Guillaume Touton, a Bordeaux native who has heralded the region’s wines for nearly four decades via his New York-based import/distribution company, Monsieur Touton Selection, Ltd. He’s noted an upsurge in quality over the past couple decades. “With all the advancements in technology and winemaking, it’s almost impossible to make a mediocre wine [in Bordeaux],” he said. And an increase in quality hasn’t necessarily meant an increase in prices. Many small estates imported and distributed by Mr. Touton sell their wines for the same prices they were 20 years ago. So why aren’t more wine drinkers catching on?

There are well over 5,000 châteaux in Bordeaux, and outside the famous names and well-known commercial brands, they can be hard to figure out. The names of the places where they’re produced—Côtes de Castillon, Canon-Fronsac, Côtes de Bourg, Blaye-Côtes de Bordeaux—are unfamiliar to most Americans. No wonder quite a few of the cheap Bordeaux I found had stickers with point scores and wine-competition gold medals on the bottles: Sellers know they need some marketing.

Most Bordeaux are blends of several grapes. Some châteaux list the grape composition on their bottles’ back label, a boon to wine drinkers unfamiliar with the different subregions and their dominant grapes. For instance, in the Médoc, Cabernet is the most important grape of most blends, while in Pomerol and Saint-Émilion, both Merlot and Cabernet Franc are key grapes. In Entre-Deux-Mers, home to dry whites, Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon reign supreme. Just this year, in response to concerns about climate change, the Bordeaux Wine Council approved yet more varieties to be planted, including hardy Portuguese grapes like Albariño and Touriga Nacional.

A further challenge to seekers of affordable Bordeaux: the region’s multiple wine classification systems. The 1855 Bordeaux Classification—ranking the top red wines of Médoc, first through fifth growth—is well known because it includes famous names like Château Latour and Château Margaux. But there are many less-famous, more-recent Bordeaux classifications, including the recent reclassification of Médoc wines as Cru Bourgeois, Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel and Cru Bourgeois Supérieur. But how are wine drinkers supposed to know if a wine rated Exceptionnel is better than one labeled Supérieur—or vice versa? It’s challenging enough for wine professionals, let alone regular drinkers, to keep track of such stuff.

That’s why wine merchants and sommeliers are key to selling Bordeaux. They can explain how a wine from the Listrac-Médoc appellation compares to one from Côtes de Castillon. (More Cabernet in the former, more Merlot in the latter.) A shop where the management has invested in a wide range of Bordeaux, from $12 to $500 bottles, is an ideal place to start. At my local, Total Wine & More, the selection runs from petit châteaux to Grand Cru Classé.

Other retailers with broad Bordeaux selections include Sherry-Lehmann Wine & Spirits in New York and Addy Bassin’s MacArthur Beverages in Washington, D.C. Several of the wines I liked best were recommended by Phil Bernstein, general manager of MacArthur. The crisp, lively 2019 Château Roquefort Blanc hails from Entre-Deux-Mers, which is undergoing a bit of renaissance. The wine was a truly good buy at $13, as was the beautifully textured 2018 Les Brulières de Beychevelle ($25), a single-vineyard Haut-Médoc wine produced by the esteemed Château Beychevelle team.

I was also a fan of the lush, full-bodied 2016 Château Fonréaud Listrac-Médoc. Its $27 price was a bit over my limit, but the wine was definitely worth the extra two dollars. When I contacted Loïc Chanfreau, co-general manager, along with his brother Guillaume, of Château Fonréaud, about his wine, he noted the increased complexity of the Bordeaux market, and not just for the petit châteaux. “Some grand châteaux are facing difficulties as well, maybe with less damages because they have more cash to go over [a] crisis. But the distribution is hard for everybody,” he wrote in email.

A few bottles I liked came from companies with deep pockets, including two Merlot-dominant wines: the 2015 Château de Haut Coulon ($23) from Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux and the 2015 Château Cap de Faugères ($25) from Côtes de Castillon. The latter winery is owned by wealthy Swiss businessman Silvio Denz, who has invested heavily in Bordeaux and owns several other châteaux. The soft, approachable and well made 2016 Château Larose-Trintaudon ($20), produced by one of the largest estates in the Haut-Médoc, is widely available stateside.

There were impressive entries from family-owned châteaux too. The beautifully polished, Merlot-focused 2016 Château Le Doyenné Côtes de Bordeaux ($18) is produced at an 18th-century château owned by Marie-Dominique Watrin and her husband, Jean Watrin; the famed Michel Rolland is the consulting oenologist. The pretty, red-berry-inflected 2016 Château Laulan Côtes de Bordeaux ($20) comes from husband-wife team Bruno and Frédérique Citerne. Whether from corporate-owned properties or family-owned châteaux, all these wines are worth seeking out. I’ve already purchased more bottles myself. And I’ll give a few of them to friends, in the hope of creating new Bordeaux fans.

OENOFILE / Budget Bordeaux

1. 2019 Château Roquefort Blanc Entre-Deux-Mers, $13

This Sauvignon Blanc-dominant white from the Bellanger family estate in Entre-Deux-Mers—“not far from Saint-Émilion,” as noted on the winery’s website—is a deliciously bright, tangy and vibrant wine.

2. 2016 Château Larose-Trintaudon Cru Bourgeois Haut-Médoc, $20

Made at one of the largest estates in the Haut-Médoc, this widely distributed value Bordeaux red is an accessible Cab-Merlot blend with a touch of Petit Verdot, marked by soft tannins and bright red fruit.

3. 2015 Château Le Doyenné Côtes de Bordeaux, $18

This beautifully balanced Merlot-dominant wine is produced by winemaker (and château co-owner) Marie-Dominique Watrin in conjunction with the famed consulting oenologist Michel Rolland.

4. 2018 Les Brulières de Beychevelle Haut-Médoc, $25

Produced from a single vineyard 3 miles from its famous classified-growth sibling, Château Beychevelle, this Cabernet-Merlot blend is a supple, polished wine marked by fine tannins, styled to be consumed in its youth.

5. 2016 Château Fonréaud Listrac-Médoc, $27

The Chanfreau family arrived at this estate at the highest point in Listrac in 1962 and set about restoring the château and its vineyards. This wine is a ripe, concentrated, thoroughly pleasurable Cabernet-dominant red.

Write to Lettie at [email protected]

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