Description
Château Le Meynieu, Haut-Médoc Cru Bourgeois
Perfectly cellared 2006 Left Bank Bordeaux for $32? If that doesn’t excite you, I’m afraid nothing else from this historic and critically acclaimed region will. If you ask us, the inimitable charm of today’s beautifully sculpted mature red should be an emphatic siren call for all Bordeaux cognoscenti and top-shelf value seekers.
For one, the provenance is flawless: This small parcel is coming directly from the château’s cellar, having aged undisturbed for nearly 15 years. Secondly, these vines are located right on the fringe of legendary Saint-Estèphe, home to not one, not two, but five Grands Crus Classés like Second Growths Cos d’Estournel and Montrose. Thirdly, the winemaking here is stylistically perfect, with a gentle hand that allows the distinct soil character of Bordeaux and the brilliant marriage of Cabernet-Merlot to speak so vividly. For the remarkable price of $32, few if any wines can compete with today’s 2006 Meynieu, a pedigreed, ultra-savory, terroir-evocative red with over a dozen years of impeccable cellaring. Since this was an exclusive purchase from the château, you won’t find this anywhere else in America, so enjoy this sensational deal while it lasts. If you thought the ’08 we offered several years back was smoking, just you wait…
[NOTE: Our parcel is currently being unloaded at the Port of Oakland and will be arriving at our warehouse in 2-3 weeks. Please be aware that any other wines added to this order will also be delayed for that same amount of time.]
The 19th-century property of Château Le Meynieu is located in a hamlet due west of Saint-Estèphe, and the owner behind today’s label, Les Domaines Pedro, is a small farming society (they own 35 hectares between three properties) that has opened my eyes to what true Bordeaux value is. Today’s ’06 confirms everything we had previously discovered when first tasting wines at this property several years back: This is the epitome of value Bordeaux!
For their flagship Haut-Médoc bottling, 30-year-old vines are farmed sustainably and picked later than is typical in the area to ensure a perfectly ripe crop. In the winery, a cool, temperature-controlled fermentation in stainless steel follows before the resulting wine is transferred into French oak, 40% new. After 15 months of barrel aging and an occasional racking, the final wine is bottled without filtration. As mentioned, our exclusive parcel was stored in their cellar for the duration of its life until we purchased it at the beginning of this year.
Seeing as Le Meynieu’s 2006 just arrived from Bordeaux, we recommend allowing your bottles to rest for several weeks and then standing one upright several days before opening. To avoid the brunt of sediment, gently extract the cork and slowly decant, leaving the last one or two sediment-heavy ounces in the bottle. This wine has had 15 years to integrate so pour into Bordeaux stems and prepare for a savory Left Bank explosion of dried black and red fruits, currant, plum skin, crushed gravel, drying tobacco, peppercorn, cedar, pencil lead, damp herbs, and hints of baking spice. The palate provides silky, fine-grained tannins alongside deep layers of earth and minerals that push the wine into a lengthy finish. At this insane price, it’s a perfectly stored Bordeaux marvel that highlights one of the finest terroirs on the planet. Enjoy now through 2026. Cheers!
