Maucaillou : 10 results priced between £10.00 and £300.00

Deep colour here, pretty damson like nose, toasty notes, soft cherry palate nice and generous in a medium weight style, touch of graphite and toasty notes on the finish.

An impressive looking inky colour in the glass with just a touch of age showing at the rim and good legs. Blackcurrant pastille, herbs and some medicinal herb character on the nose. It's got good mid-palate fruit and a nice texture too it. Some black and blue fruits that would work well with a nice roast.

Food guide: Beef, hot roast, Casserole, Cheese board, Chilli con carne, Goulash, Mediterranean style lamb, Moussaka, Partridge

Comments on CHÂTEAU MAUCAILLOU 2011 Primeur Red, Cru Bourgeois

Tasting Notes: This Cru, owned by the Dourthe family, has a museum devoted to 'trades and professions of viticulture and vinification' - a must for any wine-lover. This wine, a beautiful cherry red with ruby highlights, has a lovely bouquet with notes of leather, grapes, crystalised fruit, raspberryand more. The soft initial impression is perfectly in tune with its structure, which, though lightly tannic, is pleasant right through to the finish.

The wines of Château Maucaillou are generally sumptuous in colour, with a particularly subtle and pleasantly fruity aromatic strength, very ripe and concentrated flavours. They are harmoniously balanced, expressive and generous, with finesse and elegance. They have great length on the palate, with a lively appeal and remarkable cellaring potential thanks to very fine, yet clearly present, tannins.

Description of this Moulis *** Decanter The Maucaillou 2003 is first showing a deep ruby colour. The nose is full of blackcurrant, berries and fruits of the forest. It is also quite spicy with ahint of menthol to freshen it up. It is soft, well extracted, round and fruity on the palate.

In 1992, the Château Meyre domaine was extended to L’Enclos Maucaillou in Margaux through the acquisition of 2 hectares of vines around the village of Soussans. L’Enclos Maucaillou terroir shows the true deep quarterary gravel of Margaux with a high Merlot and less of Cabernet Sauvignon. This influence gives it a surprisingly generous enveloping bouquet. The grapes are hand picked and a long maceration gives it good full tannins. Controlled ageing in new oak barrels for 15 to 18 months.

As always, this was a tasting from barrel of the components that are likely to go into the final wine. This year, because some of the lots were so small, they had already made some micro-blends prior to this tasting. I find it quite difficult to do this tasting and wonder how useful it is in terms of getting an idea of the final wine, but it does perhaps give an indication of the overall quality of the lots. There were two main harvest periods: 15-19 October (the rain and then humidity returned on...