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.

The 2010 vintage has resulted in brooding, backward and tannic wines in Moulis and Listrac. The structure, acid and tannin are much more obvious than in the 2009s and there is a toughness and hardness to some of the tannins too compared with the ripeness and polish of the previous vintage at the same age.