Bordeaux is the world’s most famous wine region.

But it’s one that is losing the hearts of many of the new generation of wine nuts. They’re alienated by the prices, by the pretension (big-ass Chateaux and winemakers wearing suits working in impossibly grand cellars with spotless barrels), and by the somewhat old-fashioned image. But we shouldn’t give up on Bordeaux, because it is capable of greatness. It has some amazing terroirs.

In my view, it’s such a shame that so many of these great terroirs aren’t being used to their potential, but that’s true in all wine regions worldwide. Bordeaux has got so many things right – perhaps most importantly the simplicity of its offer to consumers, with one Grand Vin per Chateaux, and producing this wine in sufficient quantities that normal people can get hold of it – that I remain a Bordeaux fan. It’s a region that has given me a lot of great wine experiences, even though it does drive me to despair sometimes.

Enough preamble. Time for notes on two wines recently consumed, one perhaps a little to ripe and modern, and the other from an estate that’s making very fine wines without perhaps getting all the recognition it deserves.

Chateaux Latour-Martillac 2010 Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux, France
14% alcohol. Very ripe, sweet blackcurrant and blackberry fruit. Slightly baked. Sweet, rich, textured palate with smooth, lush fruit and some cakey, baked notes. Attractive and smooth but with a bit of over-ripeness, and ever so slightly oxidative. It’s OK, but I’d drink this now. 87/100 (£30 Tesco, BBR)

Chateau Petit-Village 2012 Pomerol, Bordeaux
13.5% alcohol. Lovely freshness here to the berry and red cherry fruit with some gravelly grip and a hint of tar. Fresh and elegant but also youthful and structured, hinting at a promising future, with a taut, primary character. Needs time to open out, but it’s a lovely Burgundian-styled Bordeaux of real potential. 92/100

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