America's Best Price on Parker's "Absolutely Staggering" 2010 Bordeaux Value Pick!

In our never-ending search for great Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux, the name Tour St. Bonnet has popped up in nearly every historic vintage we’ve sold here at Wine Exchange.  It’s one of those wines that always delivers, it’s always under $20, and we’ve always sold buckets of it.

So we’re happy to announce that our latest acquisition of a brilliant after-market cache of the 2010 has arrived…and the wine is the bomb.  Don’t get us wrong, we loved and sold a dozen past efforts, but perhaps it’s the stiff competition among the growing category of sub $20 Bordeaux that could be the reason owner Frederick Merlet has picked up his game yet again!

Tour St. Bonnet is located in the far north of the Medoc, three miles north of St. Estephe, next to the village of St.-Christoly-de-Medoc, one of Bordeaux’ top ‘insider’ areas. If you’ve followed our missives for long enough names like Bernard Magrez’s Les Grands Chenes and Clos Manou, two of the finest Left Bank Bordeaux values we’ve ever sold, also call St. Christoly-de-Medoc home.

The soil in this area is gravel over clay and, according to Frederick, is richer than what one would find in Pauillac.  Being that this is a cool area, the vineyard is planted to a higher percentage of Merlot.  The blend here is 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and the rest Petit Verdot coming from 45 year-old vines.   All the work and character for this wine really come from the vineyard as the winemaking is pretty standard with fermentation done in concrete and barrel aging done in foudre (large barrels) to focus on the complexity of the terroir. 

Critic Robert Parker called this wine “a mini-version of the well-known Pauillac, Grand-Puy-Lacoste.” and writes, “A beautiful sleeper of the vintage, this is possibly the best wine I’ve ever tasted from this over-achieving estate near St.-Christoly-de-Medoc. A blend of 45% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Petit Verdot, this wine normally sells for about $15 a bottle, making it an absolutely staggering value in the worldwide marketplace. The 2010 exhibits classic cedar wood, tobacco leaf, creme de cassis, licorice and some balsam wood notes in a strong, medium to full-bodied, layered style with good opulence, purity and overall harmony. A real beauty, it should be drunk over the next 4-5 years. 90 points.“

This outstanding bottle of claret just landed and is in my glass as I write this.  I can’t believe how structured the wine is, the layers of currant, tobacco and dusty cocoa really showing off what the 2010 vintage is all about.  Drink it, lay it down for a few years (Parker said 4-5 years but this wine will go a lot longer than that). Either way, you’ll appreciate this Advocate 90 point Bordeaux bargain the moment you pop the cork!