A review of Cru
Bourgeois wines at the International Wine Challenge awards dinner.
The International Wine Challenge, founded by Charles Metcalfe and Tim AtkinMW, celebrated its 30th birthday this year.
Any wine competition is only as good as the wines it rewards with accolades,
so it therefore relies on the palates of the judges and Chairmen to ensure the
oenological wheat is sorted from the vinous chaff.
Overall, I believe wine competitions are A Good Thing - with the aforementioned caveat about maintaining quality.
Overall, I believe wine competitions are A Good Thing - with the aforementioned caveat about maintaining quality.
On the odd occasion - usually abroad on a family holiday - when I actually
have to buy wine for general drinking for myself, faced with an aisle of wines
to choose from, I pick a price point and a style, then invariably look for
medal-winners. And so far, this has always served me well enough as an
approach.
Would the non-medal-winning wine next along the shelf be as good as the one
I pick? It might be - but then it might not. The lack of a medal may indicate
that it simply was not entered into a competition, or it could have entered and
failed to win anything.
A sensible medal (silver and above) from a reliable competition takes away
that uncertainty and provides assurance of a threshold level of quality and
typicity.
For the dinner and award ceremony itself, I sat on the Cru Bourgeois table with fellow blogger Denise Medrano, educator Laura Clay and MW Susan Hulme, along with Frédérique Dutheillet de Lamothe, Director of Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc.
For the dinner and award ceremony itself, I sat on the Cru Bourgeois table with fellow blogger Denise Medrano, educator Laura Clay and MW Susan Hulme, along with Frédérique Dutheillet de Lamothe, Director of Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc.
Frédérique explained that her remit is both to ensure quality and also to
raise the profile of the Crus Bourgeois wines; entry to Cru Bourgeois status
for the mid-level wines of the right bank Medoc is not a once-and-forever
decision, but re-assessed each year.
There is no maximum limit on the number of wineries that can be awarded Cru
Bourgeois status, nor any guaranteed entry, but the number tends to hover
around the mid-200s.
Retailing at around £15 - £25 in the UK, Cru Bourgeois is the solid
mid-market of right bank Bordeaux wines - rather more expensive than everyday
wines, but nowhere near the astronomical sums that classed growths, garagiste
and other investment wines can command.
Before dinner, I tasted my way through a couple of dozen 2010 wines and
whilst there was not time to take any detailed notes, consistency, quality and
typicity were all high; with good fruit, solid underpinnings and
"stuffing" plus structural interest, this is definitely a vintage and
a mark to look out for; from the 2010 vintage onwards it is placed on every
bottle.
The wines I tried were:
Médoc
Ch La Branne, Ch d'Escurac, Ch Leboscq, Ch Lousteauneuf, Ch Tour Prignac
Haut Médoc
Haut Médoc
Ch Arnauld, Ch Bellegrave du Poujeau, Ch Lamothe Bergeron, Ch Larose
Trintaudon, Ch Malescasse, Ch Peyrabon
Listrac-Medoc
Listrac-Medoc
Ch Baudan, Ch L'Ermitage
Moulis
Moulis
Ch Brillette, Ch Gressier Gd Poujeau, Ch Pomeys, Ch Dutruch Gd Poujeau
Margaux
Margaux
Ch Haut Breton Larigaudiere
Saint Estèphe
Saint Estèphe
Ch Le Crock, Ch Lilian Ladouys, Ch Vieux Coutelin
UK availability
Château Tour Prignac - 40% Merlot, 60% Cabernet Sauvignon;
Nicolas £17
Château Larose Trintaudon - 65% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon; Fields Morris & Verdin £17
Château Peyrabon - 35% Merlot, 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot; Mellisima £22
Château Brillette - 48% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot; Nicolas, Spirited Wines, Fine & Rare £25
Château Larose Trintaudon - 65% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon; Fields Morris & Verdin £17
Château Peyrabon - 35% Merlot, 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot; Mellisima £22
Château Brillette - 48% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot; Nicolas, Spirited Wines, Fine & Rare £25
Château Dutruch Gd Poujeaux - 47% Merlot, 47% Cabernet
Sauvignon, 6% Petit Verdot; Wine Society £15
Château Ht Breton Larigaudière - 11% Merlot, 85% Cabernet
Sauvignon, 4% Petit Verdot; Waterloo Wine Co £25
Château Le Crock - 33% Merlot, 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot; Berry Bros, Charles Taylor, Wine Story, Justerini & Brooks £15
Château Lilian Ladouys - 43% Merlot, 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc; Vineyards Direct, Cambridge Wine Merchants £19
Château Le Crock - 33% Merlot, 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc, 9% Petit Verdot; Berry Bros, Charles Taylor, Wine Story, Justerini & Brooks £15
Château Lilian Ladouys - 43% Merlot, 52% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc; Vineyards Direct, Cambridge Wine Merchants £19
I attended the IWC dinner as a guest of Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc.
Other related articles
Links
Cru Bourgeois - website