Dale.
My local Wine Merchant recently bought in some satellite bordeaux wines from
the 2000 vintage.
I picked up the following for significantly under £10 per bottle.
Chateau Le Rey and Prieure de Saint Lorent (both Cotes de Castillon)
and Chateau Pleyssac-Tayac which is a Cotes de Francs.
I had the Chateau Le Rey last night and was suitably impressed. Whilst
straightforward and uncomplicated, I really enjoyed the balance of the wine
which in my opinion is at its peak.
I had a 1991 Opus One last tuesday for my 41st birthday and found it rather
tired and a little disappointing.
Finding little gems for under a tenner really restores the enthusiasm and
the try it and see mentality, not to mention the whole value for money
debate.
I'll post some notes on the remaining satellite wines when consumed. I hope
that they are as good.

Best Wishes

Alex Hayne



"Dale Williams" > wrote in message
...
> My recent experiences with the La Chenade and Dalem got me to thinking re
> cellaring the satellite appelations. For budgetary reasons, these make up
a
> good 30% or so of my Bordeaux purchases. From good vintages, I've
consistently
> done very well with some of the better wines from Fronsac (such as
Fontenil, de
> Carles, & La Vieille Curé), & to a slightly lesser extent Canon-Fronsac,
over
> 10 year+ periods. I have trouble coming up with the equivalent successes
from
> Lalande de Pomerol or Côtes de Bourg (with the exception of Roc de Cambes
&
> maybe Tayac's Prestige) -most seem to peak within a couple years of
release,
> and slide fairly precipitously after. The best of the Côtes de Castillon
and
> Montagne/St. George St-Émilion wines seem somewhere in between.
>
> Looking at my '98s and '00s, my inclination is to drink up the
Lalande-Pomerols
> (except Fleur du Bouard, which seems to have plenty of structure), drink
the
> CdC and Montagnes within a few years, and keep the Fronsacs tucked away
(once
> Roc de Cambes started costing as much as Poyferre, I stopped buying, so I
have
> no Bourgs). I realize that generalizing by vintage and appelation is
fraught
> with dangers, but one must start somewhere. Do these generalizations jibe
with
> others' experiences?
> Dale
>
> Dale Williams
> Drop "damnspam" to reply