2016 Chateau du Moulin Rouge Cru Bourgeois Haut-Medoc Bordeaux

Cru Bourgeois is the classification that separates serious Haut-Medoc from the rest — estates that farm gravelly hillsides within striking distance of Margaux and Saint-Julien, hand-harvest, sort twice in the cellar, and age in oak. Chateau du Moulin Rouge sits six kilometers from Margaux appellation on twenty hectares of gravelly hillocks, averaging forty-year-old vines. The blend is classic Left Bank: fifty percent Merlot for flesh, forty percent Cabernet Sauvignon for structure, ten percent Cabernet Franc for lift.

The 2016 Bordeaux vintage will be remembered as one of the great years of the 21st century. This bottle captures it: radiant purple-red color, aromas of blackberry, raspberry, sour cherry, and toasted wood from twelve months in oak. The wine is smooth and rounded — elegant lightness with the kind of balance that lets Bordeaux age gracefully.

James Suckling scored it 91 and 92 points across reviews. Wine Enthusiast landed at 90. The scores confirm what the glass tells you: this is $22 Bordeaux that drinks like bottles twice the price. We taste five thousand wines a year and buy four percent. This one earned its place because it punches above its weight class — the kind of find that makes skipping grocery-store wine feel like the easiest decision you made all week.