TN: 2015 Domaine du Jaugaret (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien)

This is a damn fine wine. But: A - you almost can’t find it around here anymore, B - it’s so darn expensive in restaurants!

Doesn’t matter. I debated between this and the 1999 Musar but since my better half was along and she grew up on old school Bordeaux, this seemed like the proper choice.


2015 Domaine du Jaugaret - France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Julien (4/26/2022)
Let’s leave aside QPR for this TN (from a restaurant list). Pop and pour, with most of it consumed with entrecôte béarnaise with veal agnolotti and charred radicchio. The nose is a throwback to Bordeaux of yesteryears. Great aromas of cool herbs, fresh plums and red berries, damp earth and just the faintest hint of darker berries. Complex yet fresh nose that just feels right. The palate is just a wonderful balancing act of weight and acidity. Some might find it a tad too shrill but to me it works wonderfully. It’s all fruit from crisp red to darker hues with bright yet deep acidity and dusty tanins. This was singing with the wood grilled entrecôte and béarnaise. Fine wine, beautiful pairing. Just joy.

I was told that 2015 is the first year the domain switched to a new label type and glue. Apparently the labels don’t hold. The somm was telling me that the label was coming off of most if not all bottles. Not a big deal to me.

As I recall, they were a St Julien, so why are they labeled under Vin de France now?

Giving his wine three years élevage in old barrels and using no sulphur frequently bring him into conflict with the authorities who grant ACs, and three of his last ten vintages have been declassified to Vin de France.

Sounds like yet another in the rapidly growing list of “wines I’d like to explore but I didn’t hear about them until after the price had shot up too high.”

Phil, have you had BAMA? Does this wine have some similarity (at least to good bottles of BAMA), or at least some general cultural affinity?

Not Phil, but, perhaps of interest…

I haven’t. I only heard about BAMA as I started reading WB and I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on one yet.

Robert.A.Jr. , have you had the 2015 Jaugaret? I’d love to know how it compares with the 2010 you mentioned in your TN. There seems to be some similarities (minty/eucalyptus to the cool herbs I found, crisp plums and earth, no oak, great steak wine) but at the same time it seemed more black/blue fruited and structured than the 2015 which was quite red fruited.

I’m wondering how the 2015 would have fared across the 99 BAMA?

Thanks Phil for posting, very interesting, especially since I actually have a bottle of 2015 myself! It certainly sounds fun to try and I’m always a fan of this sort of grumpy old Asterix, refusing to sell to the corporate giants next door, the problem being, as you say, the price. I’ve heard that bottle variation is also an issue due to VA (which I understood to be the reason for it being a VDF and no longer a St.Julien).

That 2015 was drinking very nicely with a nice grilled and fatty entrecôte but there is no rush. It was very primary and should age nicely.