A delicious, world-class Bordeaux

This Château Lafon-Rochet has an amazing flavour, with further ageing potential, says Matthew Jukes.

Matthew Jukes
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published
in Features

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2009 Chteau Lafon-Rochet, 4me Cru, Saint-Estphe, Bordeaux (£47, Berry Bros. & Rudd, 0800-280 2440, BBR.com).

Bordeaux, as a region, seems to lack the romance of Burgundy and the wildness of the Rhne. Instead, it puts up with uninspiring countryside, empty Chteaux with their shutters drawn, and there is little joy on the gastronomic front outside of the city itself. Its famous wines are invariably expensive and so many of us look elsewhere for charming, involving and affordable tipples.

I happen to think that there is a raft of Bordeaux wines which we need to reengage with in order to rekindle our passion for this region, and my featured bottle this week is a beauty. Owner Basil Tesseron opened a cracking Lafon-Rochet the other day during a vertical tasting and the 2009 was the standout vintage. It has an amazing flavour, with furtherageing potential, and is available at a fair price. Berry Brothers & Rudd has only 34 cases in stock.

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This wine is also unique because the label is the wrong colour! The famous "custard" pantone is a few shades off because Basil had a raging hangover when asked to check the artwork. The bottle is itself therefore a collectors' item. The wine is a fabulous example of some of the heart-warming character that Bordeaux outwardly seems to lack, but inwardly has in spades. It's time to look again at affordable, delicious, world-class Bordeaux.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (MatthewJukes.com).

Matthew Jukes
Matthew Jukes

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.  

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’.  He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner. 

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy.  His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.

 

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