Chateau Bauduc Bordeaux Superieur
Owner-operators and English ex-pats Gavin and Angela Quinney fell for the lovely Château Bauduc, some 15 miles from the city of Bordeaux, in 1999. The house and the winery are surrounded by 25 hectares of pretty vineyards, where they grow Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon for their white wines, along with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc for the reds and rosé. Some of their older vines date from 1947 and the family have replanted or planted 15 or so hectares more since 2000.
The estate’s Bordeaux Superieur has been served at Gordon Ramsay’s three Michelin star restaurant in London for the past nineteen years, a ‘special selection’ at Rick Stein’s for a decade and a half. Oz Clarke is a huge fan, stating, “Bordeaux needs another 100 Bauducs — and fast.” It is also listed at Maze Grill, The Savoy and Petrus, all top London Restaurants.
The red varieties are the last to ripen and the conditions at harvest time often dictate whether they are picked by machine or by hand. Both have their advantages but all red grapes are manually checked on the sorting table because, after de-stemming, the whole grape goes into the fermentation tank - skins, pips, the lot. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks, followed by further maceration with the skins, and then pressing.
Although it’s a young red, it’s ready to drink now, with attractive, easy fruit and soft, supple tannins. It’s best served with red meats as you’d expect and goes well with spaghetti bolognese.
