(2024) The Sichel family are synonymous with Bordeaux, and especially with Margaux where they own various properties at classed growth and cru bourgeois level. The source of this declassified wine is not revealed, but the blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot is said to come from one of the appellations most famous addresses. Beautiful nose, touched by violet and black cherry, but more about cedar and plush blackcurrant. The palate has a silky texture, the fruit supple and composed, but filling the mouth. Tannins are quite powerful and spicy here, as is the plum-skin edge of acidity, suggesting this should cellar for a few years too.
(2024) I'm a big fan of the Cru wines from this Beaujolais estate, this made from 60-year-old vines and seeing partial barrel aging, 30% spending 18 months in oak. It's a serious but still delicious rendition of Moulin-à-Vent, deep in colour with soaring aromatics of kirsch and violet, so charming and yet with real depth, gravel and light smokiness as well and firm damson fruit beneath. In the mouth it is a beautifully concentrated and balanced, with a gloss to the fruit and the polished oak treatment, but a vivid stripe of tannin and acid giving real vinosity. Pure and long, it's a terrific wine. Note that it can be had for as little as £21.00 if buying by the six bottle case. Use the wine-searcher link.
