Expert’s choice: Moulis & Listrac

As the two smallest communal appellations in the Médoc region, after the big four of St-Estéphe, St-Julien, Pauillac and Margaux, Moulis and Listrac may not carry the same name recognition or prestige as their more famous neighbours on Bordeaux’s Left Bank, but these are the places to look for happy, characterful and food-friendly wines at accessible prices (often under or around £20 per bottle).

Scroll down for Georgie Hindle’s pick of 18 wines to try from Moulis & Listrac

Geographically, Moulis lies immediately to the northwest of Margaux, and Listrac continues on to the north of Moulis. Being located on the Atlantic side of the Médoc and sheltered from the coastal winds by the Landes forest (Listrac is the further inland), neither sub-region directly borders the moderating Gironde river, and this gives relatively slightly cooler soils.

The two are roughly the same size – Moulis with 620ha under vine and Listrac 570ha – but they benefit from grapes grown on a mosaic of prized pockets of land, which offers a microcosm, of sorts, of the Médoc terroir and the resulting wine styles. Naturally occurring gravel deposits in the region were added to by those brought in during the Gunz glacial period in the east, and washed down from the Pyrenees in the west (lighter and sandier), and these feature in varying degrees alongside clay, limestone (in the middle) and sand subsoils and topsoils.

Generally speaking, the gravel over clay-limestone in Moulis favours a majority of Cabernet Sauvignon (alongside Merlot and higher proportions of Petit Verdot than in the Médoc, between 4%-20% of Moulis blends) producing sturdy and full-bodied wines with the best capable of considerable longevity. They have some of the perfume of Margaux and the power of Pauillac. The most sought-after terroir sits in the northeast of the region on the Grand Poujeaux plateau – the highest point in the appellation – at 34m above sea level.

Listrac has the oldest geological layer of clay-limestone subsoil in the Médoc with cool, clay topsoils, and so generally has a heavier dependence on Merlot. This results in lively but also quite mineral wines that have some of the fruit and finesse of St-Julien and the firmness of St-Estéphe. It also has elevations among the highest in the Médoc at 43m.

See all 42 Moulis & Listrac recommendations

Mid-range drinkers & keepers

You’ll find many wines labelled as either cru bourgeois (CB in the tasting notes), cru bourgeois supérieur (CBS) or cru bourgeois exceptionnel in both appellations, with the most recent classification – released in 2020 and valid for five vintages from 2018-2022 inclusive – highlighting four estates as cru bourgeois and four supérieur in Moulis, and in Listrac eight cru bourgeois, five supérieur and one exceptionnel.

That aside, the absence in either appellation of properties listed in the 1855 Médoc classification will certainly have hindered wider consumer appreciation of Moulis and Listrac over the years. However, it does mean that the quality-price ratios in Moulis and Listrac are almost unmatched across Bordeaux, particularly when factoring in consistency across vintages, and ageability; many wines can be enjoyed in their youth, from four to five years, and yet will age for at least 15 years.

Forty-five wines were tasted for this article, 15 from Listrac, the rest from Moulis, spanning the most recently commercialised vintages of 2018, 2019 and 2020, with some estates sending more than one vintage. I was limited to a choice of only 18, but could easily have recommended twice that number of wines, given there was so much to enjoy across the styles and years.

See Georgie Hindle’s pick of 18 wines to try from Moulis and Listrac

Related articles

• Expert’s choice: Uruguay
• Expert’s choice: Ageing English fizz
• Expert’s Choice: Terra Alta