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Bordeaux 2012 Primeurs: Château Meyney

Written by JW. Posted in Bordeaux

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Anyone who has drunk 1961 or 1970 Château Meyney will be very well aware of the extraordinary potential of this property. Situated next to Château Montrose in St Estèphe, the vineyard lies in a single block of approximately fifty hectares and sits in a terrific position overlooking the Gironde. There has been steady and sure improvement here over the past decade since the purchase of the property by Credit Agricole’s CA Grand Crus group. There has been much investment in the vineyard and very good wines were made here in 2009 and 2010. I’m especially impressed by Meyney in 2012 too. It’s a cracking effort, a real success for the vintage, and provides genuine value to the consumer.

The blend here this year is a little atypical, favouring the Merlot [42%] over the Cabernet Sauvignon [40%], the remainder being made up of a large dose of Petit Verdot. This in itself accounts for the forward nature of the wine, but there is plenty of depth here and ripe tannin and it should age nicely. The vintage was almost as late as at neighbour Château Montrose, the Merlot beginning on October 2 and the Cabernet on October 12 and completed on October 18. Manual and optical sorting was employed and the must has a few days cold-soak before the alcoholic fermentation kicked off. The wine will see around 37% new oak so there is real emphasis here on the ingredients and the purity comes across in the wine. I’ve seen it listed at around £216 [$335] a case and that looks good value to me.

Château Meyney

Deep and saturated; lots of black cherry and blackcurrant fruit; deep; lots of depth here; impressive; nice entry on the palate; very good indeed; lots of material; nice tension on the palate; creamy tannins; very good length. This is an outstanding wine for the vintage and recalls some of Meyney’s great efforts in the past. Should be a good value buy. 42% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Petit Verdot. Tasted at Chateau Meyney Thursday April 11, 2013. 90-92+

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