Château Carteau Côtes Daugay 2005 St Emilion Bordeaux

Château Carteau Côtes Daugay 2005 St Emilion is a Claret made by the Bertrand family in St Emilion. It is deep ruby with a narrow garnet rim - this indicates its age. This is a wine with rounded spice along with red and black ripe fruits on the nose, oak and cedar cigar box play heavily in its aroma palate as do pencil shavings. On the palate - dry with bold ripe fruits  enrobed with smokey cedar box and spice, tannins are tasty, ripe and have a silky texture imparted by them. The refined and freshening acidity, balancing alcohol which is well tucked in, the wine has a great length, finishing with warm spices.
Overall a rounded, well knitted smokey spicey juicy wine which is accessible and reflects its birthplace well - at £19.99 from The Wine Society offers good value for money.
Score : 90

Chateau Lafon-Rochet 2003 St Estephe Bordeaux

Chateau Lafon-Rochet 2003 a fourth growth from the 1855 classification of the the Medoc in Bordeaux is from St Estephe  with the vines planted at Chateau Lafon-Rochet are 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, this should mean that this is the percantage in the wine itself - but this could be weather dependant. It is a Claret which had good depth of colour especially considering its age, a garnet narrow rim indicates it.
2003 was a very, very hot year, St Estephe is not as hot as other areas in Bordeaux, and due to a bad year the yield was low ( so promises great concentration of flavours in some cases). The pick was early - about 1 month early, in August and the resulting wine had firm acidity and enrobing alcohol, warming but well integrated. The tannins are obvious, grainy and drying - I would also say savoury. The rich fruit flavours on nose and palate are concentrated, of black fruits predominantly and cedar box  all parcelled up with a sweet spices and encompassed by a lovely velvety texture. This is a juicy fruit driven wine ( and 9 years old!) which still has alot of time that it could remain improving in bottle due to the obvious tannins, freshening acidty and concentrated fruits and amazing structure given by these 3 elements.

Le Chateau Barrail 2009 Medoc, Bordeaux France

Le Chateau Barrail 2009 Medoc, Bordeaux France is from the 'Tescos Finest'  wine range we bought it online after tasting it at one of their wine fairs - and it is a nice easy drinking Bordeaux Red Wine - so what may be termed by many as a Claret, and the price is good too, it sells at about £8 per bottle but after discounts we got it for £4.20, it was a good buy at £8 - so it was a stunning buy!
It has had favourable reviews from many wine writers, see notes at the end of this review.
The producer is Olivier Compagnet - the vineyard has been in this families ownership for 3 generations.
2009 was a year that produced early maturing wines , soft and approachable.
This wine showed its youth in its ruby colour, and the fresh black and red fruit aromas, but also toast and cedar box so showing that the winemaker, Antoine Médeville, has used oak contact. On the palate red and black fruit dominates, interlaced with spice and coffee. The acidity is freshening, framing the fruit but not out of balance and the alcohol at 13%, well integrated and added weight to the texture which was silky. The tannins were ripe, soft and approachable but still drying and would allow time for the wine to age and improve. The finish was quite long with waves of cedar box and fruit, layered cleverly.
This is a wine that is easy drinking and pairs well with many meat and vegetarian dishes, and at the price a steal!

If you want a tried and trusted inexpensive supermarket claret, look for the negociant house of Yvon Mau at the bottom of the label. Made from 20-year old vines, this lively, juicy, herby, cabernet sauvignon-dominant claret punches well above its weight.

Jane MacQuitty’s - The Times Magazine 20/11/2010

Amazingly good value, this shows light, plummy cherry fruit with a bit of gravelly grip on the finish. Nice clean fruit with a savoury edge makes this excellent with food.

Jamie Goode - Sunday Express 12/12/2010

…lively, juicy, herby, cabernet sauvignon-dominant…

Jane MacQuitty - The Times 15/01/2011

Chateau Taillan Lagrave 2009

Chateau Taillan Lagrave 2009 Cotes de Bordeaux
A 'petite chateau' negociant wine from Maison Sichel,  a blend of 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, 45% Merlot and the remainder is Malbec and is a simple claret with no oak contact. Pale ruby with wide pale rim and purple tints indicate a young wine, aromas of simple red and black fruits ( plums, blackcurrants ) which are echoed on the palate, juicy and fruity, some tannins are present but unitegrated and raw, the wine has high acidity and is thin bodied. The lack of spices and vanilla reinforces the belief that no oak has been used, It is simple, clean and easy, but at £7-8 per bottle what can you expect from a Bordeaux . 2009 is a good year for red wines in Bordeaux as were 2005 and 2010 and this wine is fresh, light and good value.