Château Fourcas-Dumont 2007 Listrac-Médoc - Majestic

Wedged between the great communes of St-Julien and Margaux, Listrac-Médoc produces not a single classed growth and its distance from the beneficial effect of the Garonne river means that its wines are not as highly-rated as those of the other appellations.

It is, however, a solid producer of middle-ranking Bordeaux which can be had for more sensible prices than First Growths and this Château Fourcas-Dumont 2007 Listrac-Médoc has a gold medal from the Bordeaux Concours Generale 2009.

In my First Edition World Atlas of Wine, Hugh Johnson describes the Central Médoc as the bridge passage of the Médoc where "great wines are rarely made, but there is a steady flow of excellent wine for - what shall we call ourselves ? The Middle Classes ?"

Unusually for a left-bank wine, the blend is Merlot dominated at 50% with just 40% Cab plus 10% Petit Verdot, which perhaps makes it suitable for earlier drinking, but it is still quite young at four years and has plenty more aging potential.

I first reviewed this wine at the 2010 Fine Wine Fair and, on this occasion, I open it and leave in the decanter for several hours; even straight from the bottle, it has a wonderfully focused, cedary nose with undertones of something rather earthier, with dark spice and liquorice, but also hints of a tannic structure that needs some aeration.

With air, the texture becomes wonderfully smooth, velvety and rounded and to me, this is a what a good Bordeaux is all about - anyone wishing to see what all the fuss is about could do much worse than start here, as it's relatively inexpensive and enjoyable without needing huge amounts of cellaring or being too challenging.

Once it has had time to open up, there is good dark fruit and cedary aromas, lovely acidity, great balance; the tannins are fine and silky and there is a touch of sweet blackcurranty fruit, with earthier notes of truffles and leather.

It's not a wine that immediately grabs your attention with excesses of New-World-style fruit, but rather impresses through texture and a sophisticated finesse and is all the more enjoyable for it.

It also goes superbly with food and matches well with slow-roast chicken or, even better, roast beef.

£12.99 from Majestic (before discounts); provided for review.

Links

Majestic - http://www.majestic.co.uk/