Chateau Haut-Maurac 2005

88+ points

Médoc.  Cru Bourgeois. 13.5%

A random buy from a supermarket.  Aromas of fresh sawdust that breathe off.  Dark, young claret but a little bit sumptuous.  Will be very good drinking in 3 years or so.  Bargain.

Monnieres Saint-Fiacre Muscadet 2005

87 points

Sevre & Maine, Loire, France. 12.5%

Very nice wine, in a dry savoury light white Burgundy style. The 7 years of age has benefitted this wine. Drink now.

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Jean-Michel Gerin Champin Le Seigneur Cote-Rotie 2004

88 points

Northern Rhone, France. 13%

Delicious open knit wine, showing advanced maturity – drink now. Enjoyable but not as exciting as hoped.

Domaine Auzias 2005

82 points

Vin de Pays de la Cité de Carcassonne. 12.5%

An intruiging blend of 50% Cab/Merlot with Grenache, Cinsault and Alicante gives a lifted slightly herbal nose. A somewhat dilute wine (to be expected I suppose given the price) with some nice fresh crunchy acidity. Lacks the depth of the similarly priced wines from Gerard Bertrand.

Gérard Bertrand terroir Corbieres 2005 les cailloutis

86 points

Corbieres, South of France. 13.5%

Well made. Rather classic Southern flavours. Not as exciting as his identically priced (very cheap) Minervois. Great value still.

Domaine Georges Bertrand Corbieres 2008 vinifié en barriques

88 points

Corbieres. 13.5%

Another Gérard Bertrand wine (this one given the name of his father). Surprisingly drinkable given its youth, the oak fermentation has emparted subtle oak character. It tastes of the South without being burnt or showing alcohol out of balance. Great value.

Chateau Pontet- Canet 2004

90++ points

Pauillac. 13%

Every wine critic speaks highly of Pontet-Canet today. It’s the new Leoville Las Cas, that is, it’s regularly compared to the first growths. In which case this vintage is a bargain.

Well to the wine. It’s super concentrated cassis and new oak, but with a freshness that is more like Hawkes Bay NZ than California. It’s different than much Bordeaux I drink because it is just so young and concentrated. Best left until nearer 2020. If you bought this en primeur you got one of the best Bordeaux deals this decade.

Les Pends Crozes-Hermitage 2005

90+ points

What a surprise, purple deep colour. Dense aromas. Yet a drinkable wine (none of the spicy fruity qualities of Southern Rhone) though still far more concentrated than the typical Crozes which tend to exploit the Hermitage name and deliver dilute wines. Must try this again. Good stuff.

Chateau D’Escurac 2005

82 points

Medoc. 14%

Very disappointing. Much closer to their 2003 than to the lovely vibrant 2002. Dense ripe wine. Perhaps it will open with time but I suspect this is just too extracted.

Reviews of other vintages of D’Escurac.

Chateau Marjosse 2006

87 points

Entre-Deux-Mers. 12.5%

Characterful, shellish minerality. Would be great with oysters. Good wine.

Chateau L’Hospitalet 2006 la reserve

90 points

Dark rich strong fresh. Liqorice characters. Slight herb aromas Very good value. Needs a couple more years in bottle.

Cigalus 2001 Gerard Bertrand

89 points

Lovely because of its maturity – drink now.  But unexciting considering that this is one of Gerard Bertrand’s very top wines, and priced much higher than his other worthy wines.  Also 2001 was a fine vintage in the south of France.

Chateau La Haye 2002

86 points

St Estephe. 13%

A little green and light but very good for its price. Drinking well now but there is no hurry.

Chateau Cantemerle 2004

88+ points

Haut-Medoc, Bordeaux, France. 13%

A 5th growth from the Haut-Medoc. A new name to me. Old fashioned yet well made – what I mean is that this isn’t souped up at all. No signs of modern fruit sweetness here. Strong slightly hard green flavours but not under-ripe. Flavour wise this reminds me of the 1996 vintage in general and I’ve just bought some Cantemerle 96 so the comparison will be interesting.

This 2004 should be a long distance runner. From 2015.

Gerard Bertrand Chateau L’Hospitalet la reserve 2007

88 points

Coteaux du Languedoc, France. 13%

I’m not a huge fan of Rhone whites and even less so of their New World imitators. That said I have tasted many.

I’m happy drinking this though. A savoury characterful wine. Inexpensive.

A blend of 30% Bourboulenc (never heard of it before) 30% Roule 25% Grenache Blanc 15% Rousanne.

PS I’ve just recalled that I am a huge fan of Chateau Tahbilk’s Marsanne from Victoria Australia. Not that these two wines are similar I just thought I should modify my above statements.

Chateau Cote Montpezat 2007

88 points

After some rather hard young 2008 white Bordeaux this is a pleasant change. It’s the first that tastes to me clearly like white Bordeaux. Maybe it’s more Semillion, maybe it’s another year in bottle, maybe it’s just that they aren’t trying to emulate a kiwi Sauvignon.

Nice touch of lanolin character.

Lacoste Borie 2005

91 points

Pauillac, Bordeaux. 13%

I suspect that 2nd wines of the classed growths will be particularly delicious in 2005. This certainly is. Spicy smoky oak flavours on top of classic berry Cabernet. In the elegant slightly green Grand-Puy-Lacoste style. Gorgeous. Bought for a low price in a French supermarket.

Gerard Bertrand Domaine de L’Aigle chardonnay 2007

90 points

Quite a surprise. I think this is the best French chardonnays I’ve tasted outside of Burgundy. And nothing from Burgundy comes close at twice the price. A bit oaky at present but this will pass.

Reminds me of the new wave of cool climate Australian chardonnays.

From a high elevation (450 metres) site near the Pyrenees.

Chateau de Veyran clos de l’olivette 2005

88+ points

Saint-Chinian, France. 13.5%

An 80% Syrah 20% Grenache blend. Far less classic Southern wine than the Gerard Bertrand Minervois this is more inky in colour, tighter dense fruit, little in the way of spicy southern tannins, more acid. It’s quite an impressive wine but better in a few years. Saint Chinian is an interesting area for potentially fine wines.

Gerard Bertrand Terroir Minerois ‘les martins d’aurore’ 2005

89 points

Minervois, France. 13.5%

I didn’t like this wine at first. Too fruity spicy sweet. But after a day open it was vastly better, I mean quite a transformation. Well made, very classic warm characterful Southern French blend. Cheap, great value. Recommended.

Chateau Liversan 2004

86+ points

Haut Medoc, Cru Bourgeois Superieur. 13%

Good. Quite fine. A little closed at present.

Chateau des Tours 2005

84 points

Nothing special. Marred by spirity finish in spite of the claimed 13.5%.

Chateau Bellerive Quarts de Chaume 1996

80 points

A rare disappointment from the Loire.  Sweet, low acid.  Nice but without character.

Chateau Fonroque 2005

90+ points

Saint Emilion, Grand Cru. 13,5%

Didn’t quite have the fleshy richness I was expected for 2005.  Not that it is in anyway thin, but rather it is very fresh with nice acidity, very clean fruit and oak (not sweet).  A young wine set for a fairly long life.  I expect it will take on richness as it ages but will retain elegance.  Quite modern but quite classy too.  A name to remember.  Reminds me stylistically of Chateau Magdelaine.

Chateau Robin 2005

84+ points

Cotes de Castillon, Bordeaux, France. 14%

60% Merlot, 30% Cab France, 10% Cab Sav

Pretty one-dimensional, rich but dense.  Not thrilling.  Try again in 2011.

Chateau de Briacé Muscadet 2007

87 points

Serve & Maine, Loire, France.  12%

I continue to believe that Loire Muscadet is one of the most under-rated wines – partly because most end up selling for a couple of Euro in French supermarkets.  This wine didn’t cost much more, yet after being open for a day turned into a wine of some richness.  A dry food oriented wine.  Bargain.

Chateau Verdignan 1999

85 points

Cru Bourgeois, Haut Medoc. 13%

This cru Bourgeois is good for the price but it takes minerality a bit far. Iron like flavours.

Vieux Chateau Saint Andre 2004

83 points

Montagne Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux, France. 13.5%

A sentimental favourite for me. But disappointing this vintage. Not bad but it lacks richness. Poor competition for similarly priced 2005s. Mind you I expect that 2005 will be good for this wine too.

Chateau Prieuré-Lichine 2004

90 points

Margaux, Bordeaux, France. 13%

Quite an accessible style, sort of like Ferriere, with exotic sweet smokey oak on some elegant, rich, loose knit fruit. Very enjoyable now, though I expect it will calmly age a further 10 years (to 2019). These 2004 Margaux are some of the best value classed growths around.

Chateau Mondesir-Gazin 2005

88 points

Premieres Cotes de Blaye, Bordeaux, France. 13.5%

Marc Pasquet – viticulteur a Plassac, Gironde, France.

This is the sort of quality minor Bordeaux that can be wonderful value, but many I find a bit extracted, sometimes a bit hard. But in 2005 I suspect that many of the best will be like this with a more solid core of fleshy, slightly sweet fruit, giving a really well balanced friendly if forthright and quite strong wine.

This has a lovely spicy note on the nose, almost Southern French. Wonderful value. Stong wine but still good drinking now and over the next 5 years (to 2014).