Most wine drinkers see Bordeaux as a great black hole made up of wine speak, unimaginably high prices, and an incredibly complex system of chateaux and classifications.
Which makes this wine (about $15 at Central Market) all the more welcome. It’s a merlot and cabernet sauvignon blend in the classic Bordeaux style, but without any of the pretensions noted above. Classic means it’s not a fruit forward popsicle, full of blueberry and cola, like most inexpensive California merlots. Rather, it has less fruit, more earthiness, and tastes more interesting. I stumbled on this when I was looking for a red Bordeaux to use for my Cordon Bleu class tastings, and it more than filled the bill.
Serve it with most beef (hamburgers on the grill wouldn’t be bad at all) and even some meatier vegetable dishes.
