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Château Haut-Franquet, Moulis Cru Bourgeois

Bordeaux, France 1998 (750mL)
$29.00
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Earth
Body
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Château Haut-Franquet, Moulis Cru Bourgeois

While you may not need this reminder, I’ll repeat it anyway: Bordeaux is big. Nevertheless, most of the attention is lavished upon a relatively tiny fraction of the region’s estates—namely, those Crus Classés (“classified growths”) listed in the famous ranking of 1855. One could stay busy with just the 61 red wine-producing châteaux in that 1855 Classification, but at this point, you’ll pay handsomely to do so.
That’s why we spend so much time turning over rocks in search of wines like today’s. Château Haut-Franquet has historically fallen under one of Bordeaux’s other classifications—that of Cru Bourgeois, created by merchants in 1932 to showcase estates of high quality throughout the Médoc (i.e. the “Left Bank”). This ever-evolving classification (it is now revised annually) typically includes around 250 châteaux, and it, too, barely scratches the surface of Bordeaux’s total output—meaning that even a respected estate like Haut-Franquet, perched on the acclaimed Grand Poujeaux hill in the subzone of Moulis-en-Médoc, sells maybe half of its production on release and ages the rest. By the time we find them and raise them from their slumber, those mint-condition bottles deliver an incomprehensible amount of value for the money. Such is the case with today’s direct-import 1998: A perfectly cellared, 21-year-old-bottle for $29. It’s a delicious and textbook old-school Bordeaux, right in its prime drinking window, accessible to a wide audience. Of course we’ll keep coming back for this!
As one of the lesser-traveled communes in Bordeaux’s Médoc, Moulis has been a source of some especially good finds for our direct-import program. Moulis sits a little further away from the Gironde River, where the soils transition from sand and gravel to more clay and limestone, and its signature vineyard, or cru, is “Grand Poujeaux”—a high plateau on which the top estates of Moulis are perched. Haut-Franquet is owned by the Seguin-Bacquey family, one of the historically great families of Moulis who also own Chateau Bel-Air Lagrave and La Closerie du Grand Poujeaux. Classified as Cru Bourgeois as far back as 1932, Haut-Franquet is situated on a pristine property next to the best of the best in Moulis—neighbors like Grand Poujeaux, Branas (whose ’07 we offered here), Chasse-Spleen, Mauvesin, and Barton are all within a stone’s throw of each other. 

As the haut (“top”) in its name suggests, Haut-Franquet (originally known as Château Renouil Franquet) sits at a high point on Grand Poujeaux in the Moulis mix of clay, gravel, sand, and a touch of limestone. The vineyard extends over seven hectares and is comprised of roughly 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot, which is the cépage (blend) of this 1998. The wine aged 18 months in new and used French oak barriques and was stored in the temperature-controlled cellars of its Bordeaux négociant before it was shipped to us. If you don’t have the patience to cellar your bottles for two decades, but you love authentic red Bordeaux—with its unmistakable underbrush/cedar/currant style marked by slighted dried herbs and green tobacco—this is for you. 

The ‘98 Haut-Franquet shows a dark garnet core moving to a light garnet rim. After you pull the cork the aromas quickly blossom in the glass, offering black currants, cassis, and green tobacco, vintage leather, and wet clay or turned earth with accents of baking spices and olive. With a medium-plus body and soft tannins, it offers flavors of black currants, leather, graphite, turned earth, and sandalwood, and is a beautiful wine out the gate. I recommend a quick decant (watching for sediment), but consume within 90 minutes in large Bordeaux stems at 60-65 degrees. Enjoy it now and over the next few years for the best experience. This is a beautifully aged, classic farmstead Bordeaux that deserves a beautiful plate of food to accent the savory qualities in the wine. I suggest a pot roast or ribeye with black truffle demi-glace, and simple roast potatoes. Bordeaux delivers yet again! Cheers!
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Country
France
Region
Bordeaux
Sub-Region
FranceMoulis-en-Médoc
Soil
Clay, Limestone, Gravel, Sand
Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon 60%; Merlot 40%
Alcohol
12.5
OAK
French Oak Barriques
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Bordeaux Stems
Drinking
Now-2022
Decanting
15 Minutes (Sediment)
Pairing
Beef Tenderloin w/ Black Truffle Sauce

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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