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Beyond the famous châteaux are innovators and risk takers making wines that break the mould
I smiled when I saw this comment on the Naked Wines website: ‘Tasted more like a primitivo than a Bordeaux,’ the customer had written about Château Lafite Monteil Le Merlot. I smiled because this was excellent wine criticism.
Le Merlot, which is made with no added sulphur, does have the shaggy fruitiness and saturating juicy quality that you expect to find in southern Italy rather than around the Gironde estuary. Unlike the 52 per cent of Naked reviewers who said they would not buy Le Merlot again, I happen to like it.
The example illustrates how difficult it can be to do something different to what is expected, especially in a place with so much history. Yet, in Bordeaux, different things are happening. The change is driven by necessity as well as a natural desire to innovate. Bordeaux might be home to some of the greatest wines in the world but the famous châteaux that command the attention of auction houses, collectors and critics represent only a small percentage of the region’s 5,300 wine growers.
‘At the top of the market Bordeaux is very, very successful,’ says Jean Marc Sauboua, head of winemaking and Bordeaux buyer at Direct Wines. ‘At the bottom of the market I still believe Bordeaux makes great wine, you get value for money, and [growers] are not successful… It’s been very difficult [for them].’