When people speak about wines of the Medoc, they are typically referring to a stretch of land that extends northwest of the actual town of Bordeaux along the Gironde estuary, including the famous communes of Margaux, Saint-Julien, Pauillac and Saint-Estèphe (south to north). What is slightly confusing is that wines labeled “Medoc AOC” come from the northern stretch of land just kilometers north of the world famous towns of Saint-Estèphe, where Chateau Cos d'Estournel lies, and Pauillac, where the most famous of all exists—Château Lafite Rothschild (see the top left of this map for specific boundaries: http://www.terroir-france.com/wine/bordeaux_map.htm). The wines of the Medoc AOC are usually much less expensive than the wine produced further south, but there are serious values, like those from Clos Manou. 

The owners of Clos Manou are a passionate and dedicated husband and wife team; Françoise and Stéphane Dief made their first vintage in 1998 in their small garage with specially selected fruit and few resources. This was certainly not an easy task, but they ended up producing a mere 600 bottles of wine that was everything they had hoped for in quality. The wine showed the true potential of the terroir of the northern Medoc and this success gave them the motivation to acquire specific, small parcels in the area to increase production. They had a dream to produce distinguished, top quality wine from this region and over the last 15 years, they have slowly grown from about two acres of land to just over forty in order to make their dream a reality. They purchased only the very best vineyard sites with older vines ranging from 35-40 years of age and a very high concentration of plant density. Managing the vines in this way creates competition within the vines, causing naturally lower yields and thus concentrating the wine’s aromatics and palate, as well as strengthening its ability to express terroir. The estate is farming almost entirely organically, hand harvesting, destemming by hand (which is rarely done and very impressive!), and then fermenting the wine at low temperatures in large, upright oak barrels with about 20 days of total maceration. After fermentation finishes, the wine is gently pressed into 100% new French oak barrels where it will spend 17 months before being bottled, unfined and unfiltered. 

If I did not read the wine was aged in all new French oak I would never guess it; I would estimate no more than 40%. The wine has enough fruit, glycerol and texture to allow the wine to smell and taste balanced without the oak dominating. This is not a tart and earthy Bordeaux; this is a modern, concentrated and full bodied example that would easily hold its own with many Left Bank wines that are much higher in price.