Bordeaux wine on a spring evening

Bordeaux wines are impressive, expensive beasts, at least at the top levels, full of class and power; the tables or the powerful, rich and famous are their normal stomping grounds. In the last 30-35 years they are impeccably made and beautifully aged in the best oak casks money can buy, resting in cellars that provide the ideal conditions. And well they must, of course, as they are the investment vehicles of the wine world, expected to be reliable and impressive.

Bordeaux is an area full of glamour, with beautiful chateaux all over the place, benefiting from a stellar reputation developed over centuries of serious wine-making and status building. The area is full of grand estates with many beautiful chateaux and correspondingly smart proprietors; it is a very status-conscious part of the world that makes great wines, thus supporting the status. The temperate climate guarantees good results most years, with the grape varieties used for the famed red wines providing a sturdy backbone of structure combined with finesse and, occasionally, lusciousness; technology can now ensure the indifferent or difficult years can also be decent. White dry wines exist here and range from the run-of-the-mill boring but gluggable bottles to the rare glorious curiosities. The sweet white wines are in a - currently less than fashionable - class of their own; why they are currently unloved when they offer, at least at the serious level, huge satisfaction per sip plus value for money is beyond me - but then, so is most fashion.

These days, as I am not fully active in the wine trade and with Covid-19 restricting me to Athens, I get few chances to try a mature, decent Bordeaux red, so it was with great pleasure that I greeted my friend YT (you know him and his generosity well by now, dear reader) knowing that he had brought to a mutual friend's dinner a magnum (large bottle the size of 2 normal 75 cl. bottles for the uninitiated) of 1994 Chateau Brane-Cantenac. Based in the commune of Cantenac-Margaux and deserving of the Margaux appelation, it used to have a terrific reputation in the distant past and was classified as a 2nd Growth (2eme Cru) in the 1855 classification of Bordeaux Chateaux, but went into decline by the early 20th century. The Lurton family of Bordeaux wine producers have, since purchasing it in 1922, slowly but surely dragged it back up where it belongs, with our magnum a testament to this: textbook Margaux silky seductiveness, youthful for its age ethereal complex red cherry fruit and balanced tannins making this a most enjoyable glass of wine, belying the fact that it came from an 'off' vintage. Well-made, mature but lively, perfectly poised and full of Margaux charm - the nose in particular was especially impressive, gloriously complex, rich and elegant - this was satisfaction in a glass.

Since I first became involved in wine many moons ago, I have always admired Bordeaux and its wines, primarily for their business-like approach, their commitment to excellence and their consistency. My passion, however, has been for Burgundy, that intriguing little plot of land either side of Beaune, a site of tiny vineyards, small wineries and - at the best level - unimaginably complex wines. The people there are, by and large, people of the soil, ordinary villagers, with few grand chateaux and mostly village housing, but the area holds me in its spell. Having said that, a good Bordeaux ready to drink is something very special, a sight to behold, a bottle to be greatly appreciated, just like our magnum of Brane-Cantenac 1994. Not as complex and beguiling as a top Burgundy, perhaps, but pleasing in its own way nevertheless, a charming 25-year old worth going out of your way for.

How lucky I am, retsina one night, a 2nd growth Bordeaux another, all the wonders of the world in my glass and with good company to boot...  I don't know what is to follow, but I'm grateful in advance.