France: Château Poujeaux 2009, Cru Bourgeois, Moulis, Bordeaux (Organic)

50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 5% Petit Verdot. 14% alcohol. 

Value is of course relative, but given that Poujeaux as only a Cru Bourgeois consistently produces wines of Grand Cru Classé quality - the 61 classed (in 1855!) first to fifth growth châteaux on Bordeaux's left bank - and routinely outscores some of them, this Château churns out one of the best value fine wines in all of Bordeaux.

Indeed, if the 1855 classification was revisited and revised based on today's wine quality, Poujeaux would surely be upgraded to a Grand Cru Classé. 

Château Poujeaux and its 52 hectares of vineyard is located on a gravel ridge just outside the village of Grand Poujeaux in the commune of Moulis, 35km to the north-west of the city of Bordeaux and just 10km to the north-west of its illustrious neighbour Margaux (where many of the wines are several times the price). 

Poujeaux can trace its history back to the 16th century and has been owned by the Cuvelier family since 2008. The Cuvelier family, who also own the prestigious Premier Grand Cru Classé estate Clos Fourtet in Saint-Émilion, operate Château Poujeaux with a focus on modern cellar techniques, organic vineyard management, and sustainable practices.

The wine is of such high quality that several previous vintages of Poujeaux have been mistaken for the eye-wateringly expensive Château Lafite, not least by a past Baron Rothschild himself, owner of Lafite! Compare the price of Lafite to Poujeaux; then rejoice in the quality of the latter and the fact you don't need to be a multi-millionaire to enjoy it every now and again. This wine has been my go-to claret for several christmases past. 

The wines of Château Poujeaux are routinely deeply coloured, wonderfully perfumed on the nose, followed by a seductive, creamy texture with densely concentrated cassis fruit and a touch of mineral, graphite character on the palate. This wine is no exception, and given the 2009 vintage was one of the best vintages EVER, this is a wonderful treat to share with a great friend or loved one,  a slab of beef or a cheese board optional (but advised)....

Drinking just beautifully right now. 

What to drink it with: prime rib, ribeye steak, rack of lamb, venison, the sunday roast, beef wellington, hearty mushroom-based dishes, cheese board: hard, long-aged cheeses such as a top quality farmhouse Cheddar, Comté, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Gouda. Best to avoid soft, creamy cheeses as they clash with the wine's albeit now softened tannins.

What the experts say:

92 points: "The final blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot was cropped very low at 35 hectoliters per hectare. Deep purple, with a nose of subtle smoke, graphite, blueberry and black raspberry fruit as well as some spring flowers, in the mouth a touch of oak makes an appearance, but the wine is full-bodied, rich, inky and unctuously textured due to the high glycerin and alcohol that hits 14% plus. This beauty should drink well for up to two decades.

The finest wine I have tasted from Poujeaux over the last 33 years, the 2009 is the second vintage under the ownership of the Cuvelier family, who made the absolutely monumental 2009 Clos Fourtet. This large vineyard of over 100 acres has always had a relatively lofty reputation for the best wine of Moulis. The consultants on the 2009 were Nicolas Thienpont and Stephane Derenoncourt, and they have produced a blockbuster Poujeaux that certainly qualifies as one of the sleepers of the vintage; it is a wine to seek out, as it is reasonably priced" - Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate  

93-96 points: "Full and very velvety, with round and juicy tannins. Creamy. New ownership here is really making a difference in wine quality; this is the best ever after maybe the 1929" - James Suckling, jamessuckling.com