Château Puygueraud is one of Bordeaux’s great wine values. It’s the family property of Nicolas Thienpont, the legendary winemaker and grower on Bordeaux’s right bank who has worked as a consultant to some of the best properties in the region. Nicolas took over the property in 1983 from his father Georges and has made the wine here with his son Cyrille since 2009. The property is situated in the Bordeaux Côtes de Francs appellation, on the same vein of rocky limestone which runs through the Côtes of St Emilion and the Castillon appellation. The wines have been good for some time. I’ve been tasting them consistently during the primeurs period over the past decade or so. This is one of my go-to value everyday drinking reds at around £16-17 [$25] retail. I’ve recently bought cases of Puygueraud en primeur and I thought it would be interesting to see how the 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintages are getting on and compare at this point. Below are my notes and scores on these bottles.

The planted area of the vineyard at Puygueraud is 47 hectares, 42 hectares of red and 5 hectares of [delicious] white. The soils are clay and limestone. Of the red vines, 80% of the vineyard is planted with Merlot, 15% with Cabernet Franc and 5% with Malbec. The 5 hectares of whites are planted with Sauvignon Blanc and Sauvignon Gris.

Overall, it is interesting in general how consistent the red wines are across all three vintages. The distinctive black cherry note, one of the Merlot grape’s signature profiles, is present in them all. There is also an attractive spicy quality that comes from the Cabernet Franc.

The vintages also show their overall characters too. The 2019 is the most forward of the three and is worth tucking into now. It is soft and lush. The 2018 has plenty of stuffing and material but still feels quite structured and tannic. Generally, the 2018s are progressing quite slowly in bottle across Bordeaux and this bottle of Puygueraud appeared to echo this general impression. The wine of the moment for me though is really the 2020. If you have any, I’d start tucking into this with gusto now – and if you haven’t and you see it on a merchant’s list, snap it up!

 

Château Puygueraud, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2020

Deeply coloured; bright in the glass; youthful; lovely aromatics – blue fruits but with energy and lift; black cherry and plums with an attractive spicy, leafy note; fresh and energetic palate with lots of black cherry fruit and good acidity to balance the ripeness. This is my pick of the three at the moment. Super wine and super value. I’d drink this now with all drive and vigour of youth. [88% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 14.5% alc]. Tasted May, 2025. Drink now-2031. 91

Château Puygueraud, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2019

Glossy red at edge; mature looking; more developed on the nose than the ’18. Cedar and savoury notes alongside very creamy ripe black cherry notes; savoury on the palate with cedar, ripe black cherry caressing on the palate with some spice and toffee notes. This is ripe and soft and [seemingly] low acid. This is fully mature now to my palate. [86% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 14.5% alc] Tasted May, 2025. Drink now-2027. 88

Château Puygueraud, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2018

Deep looking; red at edge; black cherry and plum; spices [Cabernet Franc notes]; pencils; flesh on the palate but quite structured with acidity and some tannin here; plenty of flesh but still needs a year or two or to pair with a ribeye or roast of some sort. [85% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec, 14.5% alc] Tasted May, 2025 Drink now-2030. 90+

The following notes below I have taken between 2013-2024 during my primeurs trips to Bordeaux. At this stage I’m seeing the wines at six months old as barrel samples, in the April following the vintage. I thought they’d be interesting to include in this post, though some are now obviously dated and I’ve not followed up with many of the wines in bottle. I did have the 2016 Puygueraud back in 2021 at the Andrew Edmunds restaurant in London’s Soho and it showed well.

Château Puygueraud, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2023

Mid depth, fresh looking and healthy in the glass; pretty aromatics, plums and ripe black fruit tones; lots of matter in the middle here on the palate, soft and easy tannins; this is generous and attractive Puygueraud; fresh finish. Really good. A success given the challenging wet summer with lots of mildew pressure. The low yields were the culminative affects of two years of relative drought here. Malbec, replanted in 2019, returns in this blend. [90% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, 1% Malbec, yields 23hl/ha, 34.5ha.] Tasted April 21, 2024. Drink 2027-2035. 90-91+

Château Puygueraud, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2020

Dark at centre; vibrant purple at edge; healthy looking; briary and brambly fruit; black cherry; sweet and ripe; very polished and attractive; nice and positive entry; lovely fruit; plenty of black fruit, some chocolate; very sensuous and nicely handled; like this a lot; balance; textured tannins; positive finish. Has vigour and freshness too. Good stuff. Will offer good value and great intro to the talents of Nicolas and Cyrille Thienpont. [88% Merlot, 12% Cab Franc, 14.5% alc]. Tasted May, 2021. Drink 2023-2032 90-91+

Château Puygueraud, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2018

Bold colour; earthy red; tight to edge; attractive and pretty; really perfumed sample; joyous; ripe and clean; lush fruit; really sweet and ripe; nicely textured; has life; spice and is a nice mouthful; appetizing. Supple and soft tannins. Chocolate on the finish. Lovely fruit. Very attractive. Best I’ve had from here. [85% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc, 3% Malbec]. Tasted March ’19. Drink 2022-2028. 90-92+

Château Puygueraud, Franc, Côtes de Bordeaux, 2017

Healthy colour; warm fruit; attractive; some spice; texture; nice minerality; some spice; nice body; well done; good acidity and freshness. [63% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, 7% Malbec]. Tasted April ’18. Drink 2022-2027. 88-90

Château Puygueraud, Francs, Côtes de Bordeaux, 2016

Deep at centre; healthy looking; attractive fruits on the nose; little reticent at first; bright fruit; soft entry; attractive and harmonious; nicely complete with good extract; texture; certain modesty; fresh with texture; some wet rocks; acidity good on the finish. Freshness but also has matter. [80% Merlot, 15% Cab Sauv, 5% Malbec], Tasted at Pavie-Macquin 1/4/17. 88-90

Château Puygueraud, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2015

Mid depth; some spice; round; minerals; nicely done; emphasis on the fruit; nice and vibrant; alive. Well balanced. [80% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec, 45hl/ha]. Tasted April ’16. 2019-2025. 86-88+

Château Puygueraud, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2014

Lovely colour; deep at centre; earthy purple at edge; ripe; minerality; black fruits; black cherry; textured aromatics; perfume; creamy entry; plums and blackcurrants; ripe; textured red; nice palate; good mid palate; very good extract and grip on the finish. [75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 5% Malbec]. Tasted 3 April ’15 at Château Pavie-Macquin. Tasted April, ’15. Drink 2018-2025. 87-89+

Château Puygueraud, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2013

Depth; some gloss; earthy purple edge; attractive sweet/sour cherry notes; nice texture on the palate, not over-extracted; lacks depth but not over-extracted; some elegance; little spice. Nicely managed. [80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc]. Tasted Pavie Macquin 4 April, 2014. 83-85

Château Puygueraud, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2012

Deep and saturated; legs; healthy looking; some earth, nicely ripe fruit and lots of it; nice entry, fruity, lots of material and good density; nicely handled tannins. Sap and life here. Good effort. 87-89+ Friday 12th April 2013 at Chateau Pavie-Macquin

And finally the white Château Puygueraud, though in the UK you see very little of this as production is low. If you can find it, do search also out the Thienpont’s other white wine from the Francs, Château Charmes-Godard. It is brilliant – and ages well if you can resist its youthful charms.

Château Puygueraud, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2023

Pale silver straw colour; fresh and mineral; some candy; round in the mouth with freshness and mineral tones coming through; zingy finish. Lovely white. From Sauvignon clones selected from the Loire. [79% Sauvignon Blanc, 21% Sauvignon Gris, yields 43.5 hl/ha, 4.88 ha, around 1400 cases made]. Tasted 21 April, 2024. Drink 2024-2028. 90-91+

Château Puygueraud Blanc, Francs – Côtes de Bordeaux, 2017

Brilliant looking; lovely lees and citrus flavours; fresh and attractive; nice and lees notes on the palate; very good zip and zing. Attractive finish – really wonderful zip on the end. Great stuff! [85% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% Sauvignon Gris]. Tasted 8/4/18. Drink 2019-2024. 90-92+

Château Puygueraud, Francs, Côtes de Bordeaux, 2014

Pale silver/gold; brilliant; taut; citrus; tight; pear drop and candy; with lees notes but concentrated; zesty; lees notes; grapefuit and citrus tones; vibrant and zesty. Hand harvested. [55% Sauvignon Blanc, 45% Sauvignon Gris]. Tasted April, 15. Drink 2016-2020. 87-89+

Next up on a great value everyday Bordeaux which is usually on my go-to list each vintage, Château Beaumont in the Haut-Médoc.