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Château Milouca, Haut-Médoc

Bordeaux, France 2000 (750mL)
$29.00
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Château Milouca, Haut-Médoc

For those who occasionally dabble in Bordeaux to the connoisseurs whose cellars are replete with classified growth bottlings, I’m certain both parties (and everyone who lies between) are familiar with the storied 2000 vintage. It’s one of those legendary years that produced powerfully structured wines from the start and, for the elite châteaux, are just beginning to soften and show their true potential 18 whopping years later.
But how many people, realistically, can shell out $1,200+ for these ‘untouchable’ First Growths? If you can, all the more power to you, but today’s once-in-a-lifetime find offers the sensational experience of a historic vintage nearly two decades on without sacrificing a mortgage payment. For $29—that’s not a typo—Château Milouca delivers ultra-traditional aromas and a classic, still-powerful Bordeaux that is fully ready to be enjoyed now and over the next five years. Wine deals rarely outrank this incredibly affordable, ready-to-drink Bordeaux from one of the top vintages ever, so I highly suggest you take advantage of this offer. It won’t be found anywhere else in America, and seeing as I almost missed out on it while in France, we can all count ourselves lucky. Up to one case per customer. Enjoy!
Though the Haut-Médoc encompasses most of the major communes—from Saint-Estèphe to Margaux and everything in between—Château Milouca, more like a farmstead, is in the geographically-centralized town of Cussac-Fort-Médoc: Saint-Julien lies just three miles north (housing big names like Beychevelle and Ducru-Beaucaillou) and Margaux lies to the south. There aren’t any classed growths in the Central Médoc, but this is largely considered one of the epicenters for value-driven labels, or “petit châteaux.” Milouca is run by Regis and Eric Lartigue—siblings and third generation winemakers—with the assistance of Serge Coulary. 

Château Milouca covers an impressive area, but only a handful of acres are planted to vines, barely more than ten, with nearly equal plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, plus a smattering of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. The brothers have chosen strict traditional methods in the vineyard: You can expect to see organic compost being spread, along with rigorous manual leaf thinning, plowing, and a green harvest—making sure only pristine, perfectly ripe fruit is plucked from their old vines. After hand harvesting incredibly low yields—far less than most Growth Bordeaux—the crop is sent to their winery, where each plot and variety is kept separate until blending. Their cellarwork is also traditional, with cool fermentations, extended macerations, and barrel aging in new (~33%) and used French oak for 15 months. 

Château Milouca’s 2000 shows a brooding, nearly opaque garnet core moving out to brick orange hues on the rim. Tears lightly coat the glass and there are only the faintest traces of sediment. Having been bottled over 15 years ago, these beautiful aromatics have been patiently waiting to reveal themselves, and they do so with impressive elegance: dried rose petals and violets, red and black currants, dried plums, cigar box, dates, tobacco, pencil lead, bark, leather, and gravelly undertones. The secondary-heavy palate is surprisingly masculine, with impressive structure and delicate layers of freshness that enhance the dried berry fruits and crushed rock minerality on the finish. Again, this 2000 is certainly in its peak drinking window and should be enjoyed over the next few years. If decanting to shed sediment, consume within a couple hours in order to enjoy the subtle secondaries that may disappear after excess exposure to oxygen. For me, it was best enjoyed right out of the bottle, with a revisit every hour—we first opened the bottle at 3PM and it was still drinking seamlessly at 9PM. Serve in large Bordeaux stems around 60-65 degrees and pair with a dish that’s rich in flavor but  won’t overpower the wine’s intricacies—the attached braised beef and mushroom recipe will work nicely. Cheers!
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Country
France
Region
Bordeaux
Sub-Region
FranceHaut-Médoc
Soil
Gravel, Clay, & Limestone
Farming
Sustainable Practices
Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, & Petit Verdot
Alcohol
12.5
OAK
New & Used French Barrels
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Bordeaux Stems
Drinking
Now-2025
Decanting
Optional
Pairing
Braised Beef w/ Mushrooms

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.

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