Placeholder Image

Château La Mazerolle, Bordeaux

Entre-Deux-Mers, France 2010 (750mL)
$20.00
/
Your cart is empty.
  • In stock, ready to ship
  • Inventory on the way
Fruit
Earth
Body
Tannin
Acid
Alcohol

Château La Mazerolle, Bordeaux

If we were ever to release a “greatest hits” compilation here at SommSelect, this wine would be Track One: Perhaps no wine has wowed our subscribers, and prompted calls for us to get more of it, quite like this 2010 Bordeaux from Château la Mazerolle. When we first tasted this wine, it was one of those instances where we couldn’t really believe what we had—where the price attached to the wine simply didn’t make any sense.


But this happens sometimes: That magical combination of vintage, producer, and time in bottle can create a wine that completely transcends its category. The feeling is akin to finding a $100 bill on the street, or drawing a great hand in a card game, and we were keen to recapture it. Luckily, the importer came through for us again, securing another (and likely the last) shipment of this wine to share with our subscribers. This is classic Bordeaux which tastes of genuine breed, from the great 2010 vintage, for $20. Grab as much as you can now—we’re not going to see this wine again.

Situated about a half-hour southeast of the city of Bordeaux in the Entre-Deux-Mers sub-region of Bordeaux, Château la Mazerolle was a new discovery for us when we first tasted this 2010 about a year ago; needless to say, we were disappointed to learn that, according to its importer, there were no subsequent vintages of this wine to be had. We’re told that Mazerolle’s owner, Jean-Louis Mandrau, has in recent years focused solely on grape-growing and has been selling his fruit to other producers—this despite his sterling reputation as a winemaker. He had been the winemaker at the famed Bordeaux First Growth Château Latour before returning to La Mazerolle, which has been in his family for more than a century. Jean-Louis is credited with modernizing the winemaking at La Mazerolle, whose vineyards span some 100 acres on limestone and clay hillsides with south and southwest-facing exposures. 

The technical details on this 2010 are fairly straightforward: sourced from old-vine sites in Entre-Deux-Mers (although white wines from here say as much on the label, reds are labeled as “Bordeaux”), this wine was fermented in stainless steel and concrete, then aged in French oak barriques (30% new) for one year, which results in an elegant, approachable, classic expression of Bordeaux—it’s a Merlot-driven blend supported by Cabernet Sauvignon, and if you were tasting it blind, you might call it from Graves, Pauillac or Saint Emilion as it has traits of all three.

The 2010 Château la Mazerolle exhibits a dark crimson, nearly opaque core with slight orange and garnet reflections on the rim. It delivers perfectly ripe red and black currant, dried red plum and dried violets over aromas of leather, tobacco, and pencil lead—everything we all crave from classically styled Bordeaux. Red and black fruits, reminiscent of the nose, are elevated by flavors of wet clay, tobacco, leather, and subtle, well-integrated oak spices. This wine is stunning straight out of the gate and merely needs a ten-minute decant. Serve in Bordeaux stems between 60-70 degrees, depending on your preference. This wine is at its stunning peak, and should stay in this beautiful place for another few years. For a meal as classic as the wine itself, pair with Anthony Bourdain’s recipe for steak au poivre.
Placeholder Image
Country
France
Region
Entre-Deux-Mers
Sub-Region
France
Soil
Clay and Gravel
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon
Alcohol
12.5
OAK
30% New French
TEMP.
60
Glassware
Bordeaux Stems
Drinking
Now
Decanting
10 Minutes
Pairing
Steak au Poivre

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

Others We Love