Breaking Down Bordeaux

NEW YORK—There are a lot of cool things about a trip to Bordeaux: Michelin-starred meals, watching sunsets over vineyards, visiting the dank cellars of limestone chateaux to taste older vintages with proud owners. But part of the point of going to the world’s most famous wine region is learning something practical that you can take home and act on in everyday life.

On a visit to the area in November, I had a chance to meet with one of the greatest figures in the wine trade: the noted négociant (wine trader) Christian Moueix, who is also the owner of the fabled Chateau Pétrus, which produces perhaps the world’s most sought-after and expensive wine, as well as other top properties. (A single case of the 1982 Pétrus has sold for $56,762.) Moueix and his son, Eduoard, met with me in their offices in Liborne, a town on the so-called “Right Bank” of the Gironde River.

In the minds of serious wine lovers, the Gironde divides Bordeaux into two distinct halves—the Left Bank wines are dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon, the right by Merlot. Plusher, fruitier (but still quite serious and ageworthy) wines are the rule from Right Bank appellations like St. Émilion and Pomerol, the very ones where the Moueix family rules.

This guy knows his Bordeaux. And he’s put his name on some very affordable wines from the area, wines you can buy without taking out a second mortgage. For years he has offered a $7.99 bottling, Christian Moueix Merlot, that is soft and supple, if not particularly interesting. Now he’s added three new wines, each drawn from a different region and all selling for $23, that are both delicious to drink and educational for the drinker. Because the grapes come from some of the most important areas of Bordeaux, trying and comparing them can help you figure out what the region has to offer.

Christian Moueix St. Émilion 2005 has an elegant raspberry charm that typifies the St. Émilion appellation—this is a gateway drug for future Bordeaux addicts. The nearby Pomerol region (home of Pétrus) produces Merlot with a depth that no other region can match, and that’s evident in the Christian Moueix Pomerol 2005, which has a deep ruby color and is rounder and deeper than the St. Émilion, with blacker fruit. Christian Moueix Médoc 2005, which hails from one of the most famous part of the Left Bank, has a bright, sweet cherry character and more aggressive tannins, expressing the influence of hearty Cabernet Sauvignon in its four-grape blend (the wine is 50 percent Cab, 30 percent Merlot, and 15 percent Cabernet Franc, with 1 percent Petit Verdot for good measure).

The very contemporary look of these labels—black backgrounds with big, vertical sans-serif lettering in metallic copper, set off by Moueix’s flourishing cursive signature in white—hints that appreciating Bordeaux doesn’t have to be an outdated or pricey concept. The region makes some everyday wines that are quite approachable and very much of our time.

Ted Loos, executive editor of Art & Auction magazine, is the former features editor of Wine Spectator and has written on wine for Bon Appétit, Town & Country, and many other publications. He's the author of Town & Country Wine Companion: A Tasting Guide and Journal (Hearst Books; $12.95), published this fall. "In the Cellar" appears on ARTINFO every other Wednesday.