Closerie de Malescasse Haut Medoc 2014

A classy second-wine red Bordeaux from the Haut Medoc

With red Bordeaux, they say in a good year you buy the second wine and in a bad year you buy the Grand Vin.

This is a second wine from Bordeaux's Haut Medoc from a good-but-not-great year. It is made from younger vines, so perhaps lacks some of the concentration of the first wine; lighter, fresher, earlier-drinking

Think of it either as a wine to drink young whilst you are waiting for your first wines to mature, or as an aperitif wine if you like Big Reds. Or just a good-value, inexpensive, classy and very typical Left Bank Bordeaux red.

Closerie de Malescasse 2014 bramble fruit, cherries and coffee grounds with mintiness and spice.Supple, harmonious and fresh with fine, ripe tannins. Well-made with good underpinnings.

At five years old, it is drinking nicely now and will age further.

Good.

Match with plain roast red meats.