Somebody gave us a bottle of this wine and it is superb. It won a gold medal at the Concours General Agricole in Paris 2012.
It is produced in the Libourne area of Bordeaux and is Merlot based. We drank the wine over the course of two evenings as my wife and I usually drink no more than half a bottle at a sitting.
The first evening we ate rare Bavette steak . This is called skirt beef in the UK where it is used mainly as stewing steak. But if you cook the steak rare and use a sharp knife you are in for a treat. Bavette tastes much nicer than most other beef steak cuts. However, if you cook it well done or even medium it is too chewy: this is not steak for the faint hearted.
The wine went perfectly with the steak. It had a concentrated and complex taste of blackcurrants and dark fruits. It also had the "cigar box" taste typical of a red Bordeaux. It was medium to full body with a well balanced acidity. The tannin had not fully softened so there was a slightly bitter after taste. This wine should really be kept for a couple of years longer in a cellar. The tannin will then soften to reveal the fruit character and full complexity of the wine which has the taste of the oak barrels in which it was matured.
Many people do not realise that good wine needs to mature for 5 to 10 years or longer and that is why they dismiss wines that have a slight bitter taste from the tannin. They are missing out if they do not realise this. See my previous blog and the Daily Mail £595 wine test.
We "Vacu-Vined" the wine and drank the next evening with a Pintade or Guinea Fowl and it went down well with the rich tasting "chicken". But, the slight exposure to oxygen had not softened the tannin so you really must keep the wine longer to appreciate it at its best.
The wine costs £9.99 at Majestic and £7.99 if you buy two bottles. It is great value for money and it puts many more expensive wines from Bordeaux to shame. Most varietal "Merlot" labelled wines cannot hold a candle to this one whether they are from the New or Old World. Just be sure to keep the wine in a cool, dark vibration free space. Why not buy a case?
http://www.supermarketwine.com/majestic/chateau-recougne-bordeaux-superieur-france-2010
You can buy this wine even cheaper in Majestic Calais for EUR 7.48 that is about £6; this is wonderful price for such a good wine.
http://www.majesticwinecalais.co.uk/Chateau-Recougne-zidF-11319
http://vintuswines.com/estates/milhade/bordeaux_superieur/chateau_recougne
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/23/indie-wine-dealers-and-sunday-red
http://www.barbackers.com/vawisa.html
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