Médoc and Fronsac 2018: Hidden gems
Step outside of the major appellations and you can find beautiful wines with vibrant fruit in Fronsac, as well as rich and supple wines in the Médoc - although watch out for excess concentration.
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Fronsac and Canon Fronsac
Fronsac has enjoyed a good 2018 as a whole. There is austerity, and some over-use of oak, but most estates have made really very beautiful wines with vibrant fruits.You find plenty of creamy mid-palates, with rich fruits and high alcohols that are balanced by the limestone freshness.Average yield was 42.6 hectolitres per hectare (hl/ha).
Wines to watch: Dalem, Villars and La Vieille Cure.
Côtes de Bordeaux and St-Emilion satellites
There are some great wines, although the high alcohols and low acidities sometimes mean the balance is not perfect. It’s worth noting that machine harvesting is not a problem with mildew in the way that it is with rot, because the dried berries are easier to discard – so those with lower budgets are not so disadvantaged.
Average yield across these areas was around 41hl/ha.
Wines to watch: Joanin Bécot, Montlandrie, Puyguraud and Alcée.
Médoc and Haut-Médoc
You will find a wide range of styles and quantities of production across the Médoc in 2018.
Higher-than-average alcohols are found in many wines. Fruit quality tends to be extremely rich and concentrated, with supple tannins. That should make the wines great for early drinking with plenty of character.
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The average yield in the Médoc was 42.9hl/ha
Wines to watch that will potentially offer excellent value: Belle-Vue, Cambon la Pelouse, Lamarque, d’Escurac, Fleur la Mothe, Lanessan and Beaumont.
Top Scoring wines: La Tour Carnet, Sociando Mallet, Clos Manou and Caronne Ste-Gemme
Listrac / Moulis
As with much of the Médoc, this is an impressive vintage in both Listrac and Moulis, with good levels of ripeness in both Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
But there is again a tendency towards high alcohols. There are many early-to-medium drinking wines that have lots of fruit combined with supple tannins.
The average yield in these areas was 42.6hl/ha.
Wines to watch: My top scorers were Clarke and Poujeaux, while Fourcas Hosten, Fourcas-Dupré and Léon Cap Veyron could all offer excellent value in this vintage.
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Jane Anson was Decanter’s Bordeaux correspondent until 2021 and has lived in the region since 2003. She writes a monthly wine column for Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, and is the author of Bordeaux Legends: The 1855 First Growth Wines (also published in French as Elixirs). In addition, she has contributed to the Michelin guide to the Wine Regions of France and was the Bordeaux and Southwest France author of The Wine Opus and 1000 Great Wines That Won’t Cost a Fortune. An accredited wine teacher at the Bordeaux École du Vin, Anson holds a masters in publishing from University College London, and a tasting diploma from the Bordeaux faculty of oenology.
Roederer awards 2016: International Feature Writer of the Year