Miss the St. Estephe? Here's Another Bordeaux Buy That's Sure to Satisfy!

Ok, Le St. Estephe de Montrose sold out in less than an hour. But, knowing that would be a hot one, we came prepared with a sterling backup from the same outstanding vintage…

This has got to be one of the “Best Bordeaux Buys” in Pessac-Leognan.  I can’t ever remember a 92-point wine ever coming from this appellation with a sub $20-dollar price tag attached to it.  But a stronger dollar, stiff competition and Bordeaux’s sincere drive to make the best wine possible is giving us values like this.

Chateau Ferran is located in the Martillac sector of Pessac-Leognan and, in fact, is neighbors with Latour-Martillac. Owned by the Beraud-Sudreau family since 1880, it’s now managed by Ghislaine and Philippe Lacoste.  Once they took over the property, major changes were taken to improve the quality of the wine.  To start, they hired Technical Director Pierre Hubert Gory who previously worked at Chateau Latour as well as Chateau Beychevelle.  To assist him, they brought on famed consultant-oenologist Denis Dubourdieu, so you can see they are serious about the quality of the wine produced at this estate.

But even the best winemaking team needs all the elements to come together to make great wine.  So between 2001 and 2006, the estate was completely renovated.  Even after that you still need great terroir, and their location in Martillac is superb with its gravelly limestone-over-clay soils.  The blend is 65% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon which is hand-harvested and sorted before undergoing a cold soak maceration.  After fermentation, the wine is aged in 60% new, 40% one vintage French oak barrels before bottling.

Jim Suckling gave this 2010 92 Points and wrote, “A wine with lots of juicy fruit and chewy tannins yet smoky and earthy. Full body…” “Best ever from here”!

Robert Parker writes, “Sexy, lush, and deep ruby/purple in color, ripe, sweet notes of plums, black currants and cherries jump from the glass of this sleeper of the vintage. An undeniably endearing style of wine, generously endowed, plump and easy to appreciate, its evolved complexity and fleshy fruit make for a delicious yet classic Graves to drink over the next decade or more. Bravo! 90 points.”

We concur. As I drink it  now, it’s hard to believe a wine of this quality from Pessac-Leognan, from this vintage, can be grown, vinified, aged, bottled, transported in a refrigerated container to our front door and sold for less than a Jackson.

Wish we had more of it but for now there’s 25 cases, first come first served…