As you’d imagine Moulis and Listrac are fairly tight, tannic bunch in 2012. There is not the gloss here of the really great years like 2009 and 2010 when these properties provide real value. Most should settle ok. The real bright spot, as ever, is Château Poujeaux, which has crafted a very fine effort in this tricky, rain-affected vintage. Listrac has produced a chewy set of wines, but Château Fourcas-Dupré and Château Fourcas-Hosten should prove gutsy drinking. Still, with so much 2009, 2010, and even 2005, still widely available and drinking nicely, it doesn’t seem to make much sense tying up your cash in these right now.

Moulis and Listrac are really two important Bordeaux appellations not to be overlooked by consumers. They offer great value for money, especially in vintages like 2010. Sandwiched between the far more fashionable appellations of St Julien to the north and Margaux to the south, and further inland, the wines lie stylistically somewhere between the two. Less fleshy than Margaux’s best examples, with much more sinew, there is an elegance here and yet the earthy, meaty, savoury qualities in the wines point more towards St Julien.

I’m a great fan of Moulis and Listrac. In these straightened economic times real value Bordeaux can be had here and the 2009 vintage, alongside some nicely judged winemaking, has enabled the properties here to make some of their best wines in a generation. The wines of Moulis tend to be more polished than those of Listrac, the latter usually a bit tougher and great for a fan of Madiran. Yet with the extra ripeness in 2009, the vintage has tamed the ferociousness of Listrac in particular.