After a long day of decisions and disappointments, sometimes you just feel like going for the sure thing. In this case, the sure thing is 10-year-old Right Bank Bordeaux, which has consistently been hitting just right.
This 2015 Saint-Émilion came from the back room at The Wine Authority, where I spied the shipping box in the corner like a hawk hunting a varmint. I ordered a kebab from Andalous and poured it up. (Lamb, tabbouleh, and Merlot have got to be the best mealtime trio ever!)
I was permitted to use the big-girl Bordeaux glasses because this bottle was a special date-night treat, and also because I promised not to break them. Maybe it’s the glassware, maybe it’s the wine–but it has a superb, conversation-killing nose. A whole gamut of fruit, botanicals, and oaky richness: Smashed raspberry, red cherry, blackberry, light chocolate, beetroot, rhubarb, and rose. The color and the aromas are intense and saturated, a thin vermilion rim the only immediate clue that this wine has more than a couple of years on it.
It’s not a difficult wine to like. Saint-Émilions are built for pure enjoyment. Smooth, ripe tannins match the lushness of its approach, with medium-plus body and acidity complementing the fresh red berries and plums. A shadow of vanilla oak sneaks across the mid-palate, mostly deferring to the fruit.
After 15 minutes or so in the glass, the wine begins to hint at its age, revealing savory layers of coffee, dried cherry, and dried cranberry–all with floral perfume still clinging to them. It finishes slightly lean, with gravel, earth, and peppery spice.
I couldn’t help but feel the Petit Vauthier tasted a little under-powered compared to what it promises on the nose. But it’s undeniably an exceptional value at under $40.
2015 was an excellent vintage for the Right Bank and the wine is made by the Vauthier family, who own Château Ausone and some other top Bordeaux estates. To buy a bottle of the 100-point 2015 Château Ausone would cost closer to $1000 retail and would definitely entitle you to the fancy glassware if you drank it in a bar. (Diminishing returns? Probably.)
This wine is drinking deliciously right now–fresh but evolving. But it could probably hang on for a few more years if that’s how you like your Bordeaux.
Bottle: Le Petit Vauthier Saint-Émilion Grand Cru (2015)
Variety: Merlot (80%), Cabernet Franc (20%)
ABV: 14%
Suggested retail: $36.99
My rating: 8.9 (out of 10)
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Review disclosure: I was not compensated or provided any free products for this review. Opinions expressed on The Wine Fairy blog are entirely my own.
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