Château Coutelin-Merville, Saint-Estèphe Bordeaux, France 2008 (750mL)

When it comes to fine Bordeaux, Saint-Estèphe, Margaux, Pauillac, and Saint-Julien are universally recognized as the Left Bank's “Big Four.” Tasting a red from one of these venerated terroirs is a truly singular, deeply evocative experience, and finding one that also leaves your bank account unscathed will make you a customer for life. This 2008 Saint-Estèphe from Château Coutelin-Merville is one of those bottles. Buy a case, savor it while impressing your luxury-label-collecting friends, and you’ll consider yourself the savviest collectors on whichever side of the Mississippi you reside. This nearly 13-year-old showpiece boasts muscular layers of dark, deep fruit and gravelly savor, and is only just beginning to strut the indelible secondary flavors of mature Saint-Estèphe. A sensory experience such as this cannot be replicated: Only from this terroir, and a château generations-deep in the intricacies of Merlot and Cabernet, can a Bordeaux of this magnitude be created—although it’s helpful when some of your vines are flirting with Second Growths Montrose and Cos d’Estournel, too! This superb Left Bank Bordeaux is in the prime of its life, flaunting a heavy proportion of lushly textured Merlot with the structured secondary flavors of Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc in the backdrop. It’s medium-plus in body, and still impressively firm with a tannic grip and savory mineral core propelling it into a supple finish. Intricate layers, refinement, savory grip—that’s what we want in maturing Bordeaux.