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Château Moulin de Tricot, Haut-Médoc

Bordeaux, France 2014 (750mL)
$34.00
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Château Moulin de Tricot, Haut-Médoc

Château Moulin de Tricot produces Margaux with a capital ‘M’—wines that consistently prove why this village is one of the elite Cabernet Sauvignon-growing appellations in the world. Despite the microscopic size of this five-hectare estate, there is no mistaking the kingly terroir of its world-renown wines.
This is the real deal! Today, there are few truly handmade, classically styled Margaux being bottled—but Château Moulin de Tricot is a notable, and widely beloved, exception. In addition to their benchmark Margaux, the talented Rey family also bottles an extremely limited Haut-Médoc, which is sold almost entirely to restaurants. It originates from a one-hectare parcel that is tended identically to the Reys’ nearby vineyard in Margaux: hand-tilled and organically farmed, with ancient sand/gravel soils planted to old-vine Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The lone exception is that this special site is situated just beyond Margaux’s appellation boundary and thus, the paucity of wine it yields must be bottled under the Haut-Médoc AOC versus Margaux. Fortunately, this technicality also means one can enjoy a brilliant handmade wine from a top Margaux house for a fraction of the price. In the built-for-extended-cellar-aging 2014 vintage, this beauty will reward your modest investment for many years to come!
[**PLEASE NOTE: Today’s wine will ship from California the week of Monday, July 23rd. Limit 12 bottles per customer.]

Château Moulin de Tricot is one of the last small family properties producing traditional, handmade examples of Margaux. Established in the 1800s, this family only bottles one wine from the appellation. No reserve bottlings, no second labels, no purchased fruit. The current generation of vignerons, Bruno and Pascale Rey, farm the same three-hectare parcel of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot their predecessors have been planting and replanting since the mid-1800s. All fruit is organically grown, harvested and sorted by hand, from vines averaging 35 years of age. Fruit is destemmed before fermentation in stainless steel tanks with no addition of synthetic yeasts. After the juice is pressed off the skins, it is returned to the same tanks to undergo natural malolactic fermentation. Finally, the wine is racked into a collection of small, neutral oak barrels where it ages without filtration until bottling. In general, the process takes three to four years between harvest and the release of a mere 300 cases to North America.

Before touching upon this wine’s appearance or aromatics, I want to underscore that Moulin de Tricot has established a long track record for exceptional cellaring potential. I’ve enjoyed back vintages of Tricot with increasing frequency over the last decade and can report that these wines consistently deliver the windfall of terroir character and depth that simply isn’t achievable with young Bordeaux. So, before anything, I want to stress that this wine, modest price/appellation aside, is the real deal; like all of Bordeaux’s finest reds, it will undoubtedly reward those wise enough to set aside a few bottles in the back corner of their cellar.

In 2014, Château Moulin de Tricot’s Haut-Médoc leads with deep currant and black plum fruit, chiseled graphite and gravel minerality, cedar, fine cigar tobacco and the gentlest kiss of oak spice. Granted, this wine is still in its youth and will peak 2020-2030, so if consuming today, decant for 90 minutes and serve in large Bordeaux stems at 60-65 degrees. It provides all the complexity and detail anyone could ever ask for, so take care not to overpower with fussy cuisine. Have you ever had a roasted beef “fore rib”? This bone-in loin cut offers a luxurious roast for smaller head-count dinners, and—as I gleefully discovered recently—it’s the perfect companion to today’s wine. Enjoy!
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Country
France
Region
Bordeaux
Sub-Region
FranceHaut-Médoc
Soil
Gravel, Sand, & Clay
Farming
Organic (Uncertified)
Blend
Cabernet Sauvignon & Merlot
Alcohol
12.5
OAK
French
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Bordeaux
Drinking
Now-2030
Decanting
90-120 Minutes
Pairing
Roasted Beef Fore Rib

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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