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Château la Tour de By: Classic claret for the dinner table

A tasting of Tour de By vintages stretching from 2000 to 2017 reveals a classic Bordeaux wine that can more than hold its own on the dinner table, despite not coming from one of the Médoc's star appellations.

Château la Tour de By is pretty much the epitome of classic claret. It’s even the Wolseley restaurant’s house Bordeaux, that bastion of old school London located in the heart of St James’s.

It doesn’t get much more reassuring than that for a cru bourgeois, and that’s even before you know that a generation of 15th century English soldiers were garrisoned on the site of today’s vineyards during the Hundred Years’ War.

All of this makes Tour de By a fine cru bourgeois with a good reputation. But let’s be honest, these are not wines that attract attention in a normal lineup of Bordeaux.

Not classified, not in a star appellation, not run by a big name director, and yet the backbone in many ways of the region. Good quality Médoc, priced at a level that most of us can afford without worrying about when we pull the cork.


Jane Anson’s reviews of Tour de By wines

 


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