Bordeaux First Growth chateau behind mystery cabernet bargain

This delicate dance explains why The Australian Wine Club is this week offering a wine produced by one of Bordeaux’s most celebrated chateaux at a price far lower than what you’d expect.

The L’Epiphanie de Pauillac 2019 heads up a selection of four cabernet-blends that also includes a 2011 vintage of one of our most popular Bordeaux wines, Chateau Ramage La Batisse.

We describe the L’Épiphanie de Pauillac as a secret release as we are forbidden from divulging which of Bordeaux’s Premier Grand Cru has supplied the wine.

Our contact in Bordeaux, veteran winemaker Jean-Marc Sauboua, brokered the deal quietly, put the finishing touches on the cabernet and merlot blend in his cellar, and bottled just 1000 dozen under the L’Epiphanie label. (More on the wine below.)

As Bordeaux aficionados know, of the thousands of estates in this revered French region, only four chateaux earned the status of First Growth in the historic Classification of 1855. (A fifth chateau, Mouton Rothschild, was added in 1973.)

These estates owe their grand fortune to Emperor Napoleon III, who requested the classification ahead of the 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, where France’s best Bordeaux wines were to be on display for international visitors.

Wine brokers were charged with ranking the wines according to a chateau’s reputation and trading price, which at that time was directly related to quality. The wines were ranked in importance from first to fifth growth.

Three of these First Growth estates are located in the village of Pauillac in Bordeaux’s esteemed Haut-Medoc appellation: Latour, Lafite and Mouton Rothschild.

Without giving away too much, our L’Épiphanie de Pauillac was made at one of these three chateaux. “We can never say which one,’’ says Sauboua, who was been working in Bordeaux for more than 35 years. “When I visit them to collect this wine, they say come at a certain time of day on a particular day, and I am even careful where I park. It’s all very discreet.”

For the chateau, selling the wine to a trusted colleague such as Sauboua frees up space, turns wine into cash and ensures its Grand Vin-level wine continues to be produced in sustainable quantities, consistent with demand to sustain high-level prices.

As Sauboua says, it would be an exaggeration to claim the wine in the L’Épiphanie de Pauillac is the equivalent of this chateau’s Grand Vin. “But it is the same terroir, made by the same winemaker – yet it costs less than one-16th of the Grand Vin’s price.”

Sauboua, who was himself trained at one of the five First Growth estates, Château Haut-Brion, has built relationships at the top of the European wine game that stretch back to his boarding school days at Bordeaux’s prestigious Sainte-Marie Grand Lebrun.

He points out the 2019 vintage was considered to be one of the best vintages over the past decade, with its wines displaying a lovely balance between fruit ripeness and fresh acidity.

L’Epiphanie de Pauillac 2019

Winner of four golds at wine shows in Europe and China. Scents of plums, blackcurrants, cherries and cassis mingle with hints of cigar box, spice and tobacco. Juicy fruit-forward flavours are balanced with fresh acidity and mellow tannins. A complex cabernet-merlot blend with a super-long finish that speaks to its quality. Exceptional value. 13.5% alc; RRP $60.

SPECIALS $54.99 a bottle in any dozen; $32.99 a bottle in Bordeaux dozen

Chateau Ramage La Batisse 2011

From a chateau that lies just outside the Pauillac appellation, earning the “next-door” tag that Jean-Marc Sauboua often focuses on to source wines offering outstanding value. This is a merlot-cabernet blend, drinking beautifully 14 years into its life. Cassis, tomato bush and tobacco on the nose along with cacao chocolate. Gentle fruit flavours of blackcurrant and blackberries fuse seamlessly with secondary characters such as leather, spice and black tea. Triple gold medal winner. Drink now with a French cassoulet. 13% alc; RRP $55.

SPECIALS $36.99 a bottle in any dozen; $32.99 a bottle in Bordeaux dozen

Chateau de la Grande Tour 2022

A merlot-dominant blend from a petit chateau estate in the hands of respected winemaker Christian Dumas. Alpine fresh aromas of blackcurrant, plums, cassis, herbs and earth lead to flavours of blue and black fruits, violets and classic Bordeaux pencil shavings and tobacco. Well-structured, firm tannins. Decant for an hour. 14.5% alc; RRP $32.

SPECIALS $22.99 a bottle in any dozen; $32.99 a bottle in Bordeaux dozen

Chateau Haut Pougnan 2020

A family estate since 1852, Chateau Haut Pougnan lies in the rolling hills of the Entre-Deux-Mers, just across the River Garonne from Bordeaux’s Right Bank. Merlot-led, with smaller portions of cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. Floral purple flowers, dark plums, creamy vanilla and bay leaf rise from the glass. You’ll find rich, fruit-forward flavours with creamy undertones, dark plum and bramble and a touch of mushroom. Smooth tannins float the boat to a long-lasting finish. From an excellent vintage. 13% alc; RRP $38.

SPECIALS $29.99 a bottle in any dozen; $32.99 a bottle in Bordeaux dozen

BORDEAUX DOZEN Three bottles of each wine above for $32.99 a bottle. SAVE $159.