Chateau Lescalle Bordeaux Superieur (2003)

When one thinks of French wine, the first thought is usually Bordeaux.  The wine comes from the largest wine appellation in France.  The Appellation Origin Controllee in Bordeaux accounts for nearly one-quarter of all AOC wines produced in France.  Wine growing in this region dates all the way back to the Roman Empire.  As early as 48 A.D., the Romans planted grapes in this region to produce wine for the soldiers.  The first recorded evidence of winemaking in the Bordeaux region dates back to Pliny the Elder in 71 A.D.

Chateau Lescalle is a small chateau built by Emanuel Tessandier in 1875, near the town of Macau, which is located in Haut-Medoc and on the edge of the Margaux appellation.  The winemaker Claude Gaudin oversees the vineyards that have dense vine plantings, which limits yields and increases the intensity of the fruit.  The winemaker also extends the extraction time to pull all of the flavor out of the grapes.  The result should be an intense wine.

When I poured this Bordeaux Superieur, I immediately saw the need to decant the wine.  (I only had a glass, so I let it sit for a while, the rest was going into making a Bordeaux Au Jus for the Herb Crusted Standing Rib Roast.)  The need to decant this wine is to be expected, especially in light of the fact that the wine has sat in the bottle for about eight years. 

The wine pours a nice dark crimson color, with only the faintest deep purple hue.  The aromatics of this wine speak of dark cherries, plum, earth and some spice.  The taste of this wine is very fruit forward, with a lot of dark cherries and blackberries, along with earthy notes.  

Planet Bordeaux.com suggests that this wine is more like a Medoc Cru Beaujolais rather than a Bordeaux Superieur, but, I am glad it is just a Bordeaux Superieur.  At $18.49 a bottle, it is much more affordable and allows for many more people -- like me -- to try a great wine without having to fork out a lot of money for the wine.

I purchased this wine at Capital Beer and Wine, a new beer and wine store in Bethesda, Maryland. 

ENJOY!

For more about this wine, check out Planet Bordeaux.com.