Combining patrician tradition with au courant French chic: a legendary name manages to elevate generic Bordeaux into something very glamorous and very good.
France: Bordeaux
Bordeaux can be a confusing place, even to people who know their French wines. There are 14 Châteaux Belairs and 151 chateaus with Figeac in their name. And it goes on. But the famed estates, with the recognized labels and high prices, make up only a small fraction of Bordeaux production. Perhaps overproduction is a better word. Grand Crus make up about 5 per cent of all Bordeaux wine, and very few of those are household names. The top ones remain much sought after—a lot of money chasing a very few superstars. Much of the rest however—generic wines without the pedigree of small sub- appellations—must compete in a world market with too much wine.
Most of the generics are bottled under traditional but uncommon names. A few are more familiar, with the Mouton Cadet brand by far the best known. I recently came across an interesting new line that like Mouton Cadet is associated with a prestigious and important Bordeaux name—that of Christian Moueix. Mr. Moueix belongs to the family that owns the legendary Petrus as well as Chateau Trotanoy and California’s Dominus. In addition to owning a number of estates they manage and consult for even more properties. Christian Moueix is also a prominent negociant—a buyer of wines from small producers, and a supplier and wholesaler.
This new line is a regional series that manages to make generic Bordeaux very glamorous. Each bares the simple but elite and magical name of an area of Bordeaux: Saint-Emilion, Pomerol, and Medoc. The highly stylized labels—nothing like traditional Bordeaux labels that conform to French regulations—are black, with the regional designation printed vertically in red. The only other information on the label is the Christian Moueix signature and the year. The packaging is strikingly simple and very smart. From a marketing perspective they have managed to combine names that convey patrician traditions going back centuries with an appearance that is up-to-the moment French chic. If there is a savvy way of marketing generic Bordeaux in this country, they have found it.
This trendy, upscale look raises expectations, and it would be a mere trap if the wine in the bottle were a disappointment. But Mr. Moueix has a reputation at stake, and he does not let us down. All are blends but each is different. The Pomerol is 95 per cent merlot, perhaps in deference to Petrus, located in Pomerol and one of the most expensive wines in the world. The Saint Emilion is 85 per cent merlot, and the Medoc, reflecting the traditions of that area, is 50 per cent cabernet sauvignon. All three wines, which are priced at $23 a bottle, are from the 2005 vintage. It was a remarkably good one in Bordeaux, so Mr. Moueix and his producers had superior grapes to begin with.
Don’t expect the soft, sweet, plummy flavors of a New World merlot. These are earthy, expressive, and taste of the Old World. They are engaging wines, reflecting their origins. Wine critics could pick out aromas and tastes of leather and pine and forest and tar and things like that along with the fruit profiles of these wines. But for the rest of us, who simply want to enjoy a good wine, all those minor taste indicators are only parts of a complex assemblage, and not something we have to parse or think about.
It somehow does not seem in the spirit of these wines to be overly analytical. I think one of Mr. Moueix’s purposes is to simplify the process of choosing Bordeaux wines, to make them more approachable and friendly, and I applaud that. For consumers, what counts is the drinking experience. When I tasted the Moueix regional series I felt—and I think you will know instinctively when you taste these wines—that they are distinguished, exceptional, and well worth drinking.
