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Merlot Thursday: Château Angélus Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé A (2020)
Château Angélus, on Bordeaux’s Right Bank, is famous for its natural amphitheater that captures the peals of nearby church bells. It’s equally known for its iconic, collectible Cabernet Franc-focused blends. And more recently, Angélus made wine-industry headlines for its exit from the Saint-Émilion classification system. Angélus attained the highest rank (Premier Grand Cru Classé A)…
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Merlot Thursday: Château Beau-Séjour Bécot Saint-Émilion Premier Grand Cru Classé (2018)
My weekly Merlot is often found in ordinary places: I buy it from pizza joints and grocery stores, I quaff it at office parties and on barstools. It’s red, it’s fruity. I taste it earnestly and thirstily, no matter how humble the bottle. But occasionally, the Merlot encounter is quite extraordinary–glasses around a table with…
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Merlot Thursday: Château Tour Bayard Montagne Saint-Émilion (2022) + Bordeaux at TEXSOM
Can a centuries-old wine region learn new tricks? Bordeaux is undergoing a major effort to keep up with changes in drinking habits and in the climate. We’ve personally seen these modernization strategies on display at Wine Paris 2026 and this past week, at the TEXSOM Conference in North Texas. Some recent changes revolve around wine…
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Merlot Thursday: BriO de Cantenac Brown Margaux (2018)
Today’s #MerlotThursday wine is composed of just 50% Merlot–but I’m going to argue that it still counts. What can we say? We love Bordeaux blends and sometimes we fudge a little. “BriO” is the second label of Château Cantenac Brown, a classified Third Growth. It is, as we shall see, a fantastic value for Margaux.…
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Merlot Thursday: Les Chênes de Macquin Saint-Émilion Grand Cru (2018)
Les Chênes de Macquin has been uncorked for #MerlotThursday! This Merlot-dominant blend (90%) serves as the second wine of the Premier Grand Cru Classé estate Château Pavie Macquin. It pours up a mouthwatering Bordeaux ruby color, with some garnet variation just starting to emerge across its rim. An oversized glass can barely contain the wonderfully layered aromas:…
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Merlot Thursday: Château La Rose Perrière Lussac Saint-Émilion (2020)
“When you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail,” the saying goes. And when you are a cooper, every wine needs time in a barrel. So it is with Château La Rose Perrière, the Bordeaux estate owned and managed by Jean-Luc Sylvain (of renowned barrel supplier Tonnellerie Sylvain). The Château’s red wines, unusually, are…
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Merlot Thursday: Château Armens Saint-Émilion Grand Cru (2020)
A World Cup match lasts approximately 90 to 100 minutes. I’m not really into sports…but coincidentally, 90 minutes is about how long I like to linger over a tasty glass of red wine. And so, we are at the bar, my wife is watching footie on the telly–and I am kicking off the evening with…
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Merlot Thursday: Les Cadrans de Lassègue Saint-Émilion Grand Cru (2022)
Once again, I’m in the North Dallas suburbs and searching for Merlot. It looks promising: The steakhouses here are wedged into the crevices between every parking garage and highway median. However, this is the land of Caymus and Austin Hope, and finding a fresh glass of Merlot is never a sure thing. I pop into…
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Merlot Thursday: Château Giscours “Haut-Médoc de Giscours” (2020)
Today’s #MerlotThursday wine is actually just 50% Merlot–so I drank two glasses to make it count. 😉 The “Haut-Médoc de Giscours” is the third label of Château Giscours, a prestigious Third Growth estate in the Margaux appellation of Bordeaux. The fruit comes from Giscours’ 60 hectares of vines in the Haut-Médoc, slightly inland and adjacent to…
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Merlot Thursday: “Madame de Beaucaillou” Haut-Médoc (2019)
Merlot’s fortunes are so low that it’s possible to walk into an upscale wine shop and not see a single bottle with the “M-word” on the label. When you ask for help finding a nice Merlot, they will look at you with either pity (as if you have no wine knowledge) or suspicion (as if…
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Merlot Thursday: Château la Grâce Dieu les Menuts Saint-Émilion Grand Cru (2016)
If there is any 2016 Saint-Émilion left on the planet at the end of this year, it won’t be for lack of trying. I have been uncorking these bottles with relish on Thursdays (and other days), and they are consistently tasting just right. Want a sip of this vintage? Then you’d better hurry. Château la…
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Review: Château La Rose de Vitrac Bordeaux Blanc (2024)
Imagine this: You’re in a less-than-ideal wine shop in a new city and you don’t recognize any labels. You have $20 in your pocket. You’re meeting up with friends…and there’s someone who maybe doesn’t drink red? You have no idea what you’re having for dinner. What’s your move? If you said “white Bordeaux,” then great…