2009 Château Moulin de la Roquille Bordeaux Half Case

6 x 2009 Château Moulin de la Roquille Bordeaux

I can't help but feel good about bringing Lot18 members this great-value Bordeaux from 2009, the stellar vintage that's universally deemed the darling of the past decade.

Fresh, ripe fruit flavors dominate this smooth selection, making it an easygoing crowd-pleaser or an ideal weeknight wine. At the same time lovely layers of spice and oak give it the stuffing to stand up to more serious fare.

Jerome Audouin started Château Moulin de la Roquille with his wife and brother in Francs Côtes de Bordeaux, a small appellation in Bordeaux's Right Bank. One of the sunnier regions in this area, with some of the highest slopes, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux is also blessed with deep soils of clay and limestone – conditions that Merlot, the dominant variety there, responds to well. This area is so ideal for viticulture that famous families from nearby Pomerol and St.-Émilion have invested in this appellation for decades and control many of the best châteaus.

When Dubourg tried Audouin's wines, he was impressed by his school chum's ability to craft such supple, delicious blends at this fair price. Today's 2009 comprises Merlot, predominantly, and equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, the two latter varieties offering tannic and herbaceous complements to the Merlot's juicy fruit. This well-balanced wine will pair well with casual weekday meals, such as burgers with fried onions, but it will surely stand up to a weekend steak, too. With six bottles in this offer, cook up a few more choice cuts and invite some of your old school friends. This is wine worthy of a reunion.

Tasting Note
The 2009 Château Moulin de la Roquille is an extremely smooth and fruity red Bordeaux. Only a few hundred cases of this red are made each year. A garnet-colored wine, it shows an attractive nose of red fruits, including cherry and raspberry, with leather and dried herbs. On the palate, blackberry and cassis fruit flavors dominate, with streaks of vanilla and freshly cut wood. Medium-bodied, this wine ends with a smooth finish on light tannins. Drink it until 2015 with steak, hamburgers, grilled chicken or soft cheeses.

—Nicole Niebisch

Nicole Niebisch has worked in the wine industry for the past decade. She started in New York restaurants as a sommelier and, prior to joining Lot18, spent five years working for Folio Fine Wine Partners, an importer and producer of wines from several of the world's top regions. Nicole holds certificates from the Society of Wine Educators and the American Sommelier Association, and the Diploma in Wine and Spirits from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust. Read more about Nicole here, or follow her on Twitter.