Cru Bourgeois


Fratelli Cabernet Sauvignon 2011, Maharashtra, India (contact Hallgarten Druitt) Dominated by a smoky/ashy bonfire character, some plum and berry underneath, but it doesn’t stand a chance. 0 Errázuriz Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2010, Aconcagua, Chile (£9.99 Waitrose, Booths, Fresh & Wild) Starts off a little clichéd, with the typically Chilean mint-tinged […]

Wine Tasting Video: Cabernet Sauvignon from Bordeaux, India & Chile


Tesco Finest Château Haut Langlade, Montagne St Emilion 2008 (£9.30 Tesco) There’s decent, slightly baked berry and blackcurrant fruit here, but there’s also a slightly cheesy note, and while I don’t mind the smoky bacon edge to the oak, there’s just a touch of greenness, although it finishes well. B(-) […]

Wine Tasting Video: Six reds from Bordeaux


The remaining trio from the clarets that had been hogging the wine rack… Château Preuillac Médoc 2004 (£14 Soho Wine Supply) Nose is a combination of ripe, even overripe fruit with a smoky edge that tends towards the fishy (think smoked mackerel). There’s quite nice ripe blackcurrant, plum and berry, […]

Whistlestop Bordeaux Part 2/2



Apologies to linguistic pedants for the Franglais title, but will the French ever learn? Decanter has a news story on its site featuring recent comments from Robert Beynat, the CEO of Vinexpo, among them ‘The internet is not the right medium for the sale of wines and spirits, it is […]

Oh cher, pas encore…


So the Bordeaux cru bourgeois classification is going to be suspended (see here). Golly, this WILL have the rest of the winemaking world quaking in its boots. Why, oh why do the French spend so much time on things that the rest of the world doesn’t give a stuff about? […]

Cru Bourgeois – who gives a stuff?