A Bordeaux bargain that doesn't sacrifice taste

I first started collecting Bordeaux wines in the 90s. The top tier of the five growths (First through to Third Growths) was already prohibitively expensive for the likes of me, but I was able to score beautiful wines in the fourth and fifth growth categories at good prices through the LCBO’s Bordeaux Futures program.

With this program, you can place a down payment on wines you desire, and in about two years, they’ll become available. You just need to pay the balance to collect them. It’s always been a worthwhile endeavour as the wines end up in the market at a considerably higher price.

I’m not necessarily loyal to any one type of wine in this vast world, but I am partial to red Bordeaux, and that may have everything to do with the fact that this was where I started my wine collection. 

I enjoy the aromas of crushed black fruit, wet stone, graphite and cedar that mark so much of Bordeaux. So what can we expect of a $14 Bordeaux? Can a wine this modestly priced be identifiable by smell alone?

With Saint Tourelle, the answer is undoubtedly yes. There’s plenty of blackberry, black cherry, pencil shavings, wet slate and fresh red apple. On the palate, the profile is consistent with an added funky black currant note and the apple resolves into something more bruised on the medium-plus length finish. The tannins are fine and dusty, giving off a mild capsicum character as a closing note.

As if it needed further elaborating, this is not a fully robust Bordeaux, but at this ridiculously modest price, it is identifiably Bordeaux, and it’s a red wine winner for grilled black pepper flank steak with rosemary roast potatoes.

One more thing: this wine is from 2019. It’s six years old and it’s still remarkably fresh! Buy a few bottles and enjoy them over the next year.