Actually, just to be clearer still, I “knew” Didier Michaud from a now defunct forum we both took part in here. He was one of many “alternative” producers on the forum, such as Mireille Daret from Cru Barréjat in Barsac or Patrick Baudouin from Anjou, or Hervé Bizeul of Clos des Fées in Roussillon. The forum was a great privilege to be part of. Hence my disappointment when the wine (IMHO) wasn’t as good as I wanted it to be.
The wines you mention are not the ones I meant! La Lagune and Camensac are both CCs and Potensac is a lot more expensive than 10 euros. I too remember the Camensac 82 with great fondness - it was one of the first wines I discovered. I don’t think that Camensac has ever been as good as it was when the Forner family owned it. Then the wine was fruity and elegant. Since the mid-90s, it has become rather different.
My Cru Bourgeois bankers, which I buy every year, are Larose-Trintaudon (also a former Forner property), Caronne Ste Gemme, Citran, Rollan de By, Beaumont, Hanteillan and Tour du Haut Moulin. There are others I buy less frequently, such as Clément-Pichon, Malescasse, Malleret, D’Escurac, Paloumey, Cambon La Pelouse and Sénéjac. Some of them go up occasionally but I can usually get them for around 10 euros.
Back in the day, i.e. the 80’s, I drank quite a bit of some of those you mention, especially the Larose-Trintaudon, which I remember fondly, but also a few of the others, including the last two. To my surprise, at the right shop they are were in the price range you mention (I just checked Winesearcher) even over here, but, above all, it is nice to know that they continue to make respectable wines. Cheers!
Joshua, I’m guilty of repeating myself here, so apologies to others, but the Crus Bourgeois (not just the ones I mention) are the go-to category in Bordeaux nowadays. Whether or not one likes the style of “modern” wines, the general quality is infinitely better than it was in the 80s or 90s, for prices which have remained almost the same since 2000. The 2010 vintage, for example, produced loads of excellent wines, at the level that many CCs were producing in the 90s. I think that my cellar is probably around 25% CB.
Interesting you mention a St Em. I grabbed one from CSW to complete a case back in the spring (Maison Blanche Les Piliers) that was a welcome surprise.
My problem with off the beaten path bordeaux has been that I only find about 1 out of every 5 to be to my liking. That means I am spending perhaps a $100, give or take, to find 1 wine I like. I do much better dabbling in the $40 to $60 per bottle territory.
Cru Bourgois - are we meant to drink these young or age them? Not knowing what to do with them is perhaps the chief reason I haven’t purchased any. Same goes for more newfangled and natural small Bordelaise producers. Thoughts?
I taste a lot of small, unknown, and little-known wines every year. Although most of those I see are in the Right Bank. But the truth is, while there are a lot of great Bordeaux value wines, with true character and the ability to age, good terroir makes better wine, especially in the less than perfect vintages. Worth the money is up to the purchaser. However, regardless of the region, better soils allows wineries to make better wine.
Some of the wines on his list are actually quite pricey. I think the 100% Petit Verdot he names is over $100.
IMO, for most of the classification, it is remarkable how in touch it is over 160 years later. Yes, some estates should be demoted, and others promoted, but overall, it’s not such a bad list. That is not to say it is relevant today, but all things considered, it is an amazing achievement.
Perhaps the poverty in Pauillac derives from the fact they closed the oil refinery.
I get lots of e mails from wine merchants–and who doesn’t?–and it seems they have all discovered Bordeaux. First they found Muscadet and then Beaujolais and now Bordeaux.
Yup. Bordeaux in the $30 to $60 range are a much better deal than trying to find a $15 Bordeaux you like. You can find some fantastic bordering on great wines in that price range in Bordeaux, the most you’ll find among $15 Bdx is a good weekday wine.
But this article seems more devoted to memorializing the author’s unconventionality and originality than to finding his readers great wines. He wouldn’t be caught dead recommending a classed growth or well-known Haut Medoc that someone might actually have heard of, even if those wines include some of the best bargains in the wine world.
It depends on the vintage. 08, for example, was better drunk early. 09, OTOH, is not ready yet, unless you like lots of juicy puppy fat. 2010 has been drinking well since 2017, although the wines will not be at peak for several years. 2011 is drinking well, 2012 needs another year or two, as does 2014. I won’t touch 2015 and 2016 for at least another three years. Good CBs can last as long as CCs, sometimes outperforming many of them (Lanessan 00 springs to mind).
Each to their own, obviously. My “problem”, if indeed I have one, is with wines like Potensac, at the high end of the CB price scale, which offer much the same as the wines I’ve listed for double, or nearly, the price. Now those are indeed wines I shun in favour of CCs costing 10 euros more.