Chateau Hanteillan can be a nice, modern styled Cru Bourgeois. Not sure of the blend, but I think it’s just Cab Sauv and Merlot.
Totally agree. Would be seriously impressed if you could decipher 0%, 10%, 20% Cab Franc inclusion blind.
Wouldn’t a lot of stephane derenoncourt wines fit the bill?
I was served a 100% cab franc from WA blind the other day… and it tasted like chocolate cover cherries hit soaked in vanilla and alcohol, and not in a great way. I guessed it was a Malbec! ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
Do tell! What was the WA Franc?
Like Alfert said, they drown out the Franc
Cab Franc is one of my favorite grapes, and I had no clue any was in this bottle…sad
wife loved it though!!
All of them!
Haha that’s what I thought. Enjoyable cheap weeknight bottles every once in a while.
Can you list a few?
I have been shopping around for some of the suggested wines. So far I have been able to acquire a 2010 Barde Haut. As I am on call this weekend, it will have to wait until Monday evening.
I don’t know if it’s a complete list, but Jancis lists a fair number of them:
Jeff -
From that list, try the Domaine de Chevalier. It’s the only wine he touches that I buy. It is mostly Cab/Merlot with 5% petite verdot.
Unless you like uber-ripe modern, I would avoid his St. Emilions.
Smith Haut Lafite may be a nice wine for you to try as well. It’s too modern for me, but nothing like his St Ems. It is 60/40 Cab/Merlot in some years, but can have minimal amounts of Cab Franc and/or petite verdot in the blend in other years. You will not notice it.
local shop had a handful of 2010 Barde Haut on sale $25…I grabbed one bottle…popped it, never returned for the others.
Just not a style I look for.
I opened a half bottle of the 2015 Ch. Tour Saint Christophe [St Emilion] and enjoyed it as a pre-prandial relaxant. It is - indeed - very modern but gets the balance between tannin, extraction, and ageability right. This bottle was brought over by Jeffrey Davies, who specializes in this style of rich Bordeaux, and is a name I trust on back labels as much as KLWM. I always know what I’m getting with his selections: lush modern 15% abv wines that punch far above their dollarweight. There is some cab franc in this blend, but it does not stick out in a herbal / minty / Loire way. I get a touch of heat on the nose, but I didn’t decant. It’s a blackfruited modern right bank, but even though it fits my typecast, I’m not as much a fan as professional critics seem to be, who universally love the property. Even the BWE board awarded some vintage of this house a WOTY award. Overall, I’d give this a B+.
PS: I’ve had happy results with cellaring (by accident) the same ownership group’s other St Emilion - Haut Brisson.