Galloni: "The 2016s are absolutely remarkable wines." Two Incredible Under $25 Bordeaux - Fass Cult Favorites

These Wines Are Fass List Cult Favorites for a Reason
 - Classic, Pre Global Warming, pre Michel Rolland Bordeaux
 - The Balance, Freshness and Complexity I Want

2016 Chateau La Reysse Medoc
 - Drop Dead Tiny Berry Fruit Intensity
 - Amazingly Complex, Powerful and Delicate 
 - For $24.99 - Just Amazing

2016 Clos du Moulin Medoc
 - Deep Red Fruits
 - The Last 200 Bottles (The French Sucked This Down)
 - Ridiculous Value at $18.99

I don't sell Bordeaux often but I am very enthusiastic about the ones I do sell and ChateauLa Reysse

is not only absolutely wonderful and classically styled Bordeaux it is also just one of the best values going. It has a cult following on the list. Finding and offering great value Bordeaux can be a challenge to say the least. Selling it is even harder.  The famous names are the famous names and expensive and there is not much deviation from them. The not so famous names most of them, including me, no one has have never heard of. You can still find delicious, elegant, structured and age-worthy Bordeaux for under $25 a bottle wine La Reyssee and Clos du Moulin.

The 2016 Vintage
2016 is a ridiculous vintage and the best vintage since 2010 but more like 2014 but way way better. I love 2014 but I lust after 2016. It was super wet the first half of the growing season and super dry the second half and to the puzzlement of the vignerons these conditions created near perfect conditions. The wines are full bodied and dense with incredibly ripe tannins and full throttle very pure fruit. But there is also very crisp acidity which gives these wines undeniable freshness.  The tannins are incredible and this is a vintage that is to cellar and for wine geeks. But the general public will love as well.

Below is what Antonio Galloni has to say about 2016.

"The 2016s are absolutely remarkable wines. The word that comes to mind, unfortunately so often overused, is balance. In technical terms, the 2016s boast off the charts tannins that in many cases exceed those of wines from massive vintages such as 2010. And yet, the best 2016s are absolutely harmonious, with the tannins barely perceptible at all. The 2016s also have tremendous energy and bright, acid-driven profiles, with many wines playing more in the red-fruit area of the flavor spectrum. One of the results of the unusual growing season is that alcohols range from 0.5% to 1% lower than what has been the norm in recent years."

Today, after a very long wait and many requests I finally have the 2016 Chateau La Reysse Medoc for as little as $24.99 a 4-pack. This is the best La Reysse since the 2010 and Stefan says it is the best La Reysse ever.  Only time will tell. Please pay attention La Reysse heads as this is the vintage to go long. The 2016 has a cooling mineral nose with astonishing depth and purity which gives off an impression of amazing freshness. The acid is so amazing in this wine. The palate is pure pleasure with oodles of blue and black fruits, wonderful acids, grippy forceful tannins and a real sense of place. It is so so crunchy and insanely fresh with dramatic depth and richness yet so crunchy and the tiny berry fruit intensity is just drop dead. It is insane this is $24.99. RWOTY material here. It has the authority and refinement of a classed growth in 2016. Just an amazingly complex, powerful and delicate bottle of Bordeaux.  You also get cigar aromas, leather, tobacco and some nice wet earth as well after some air but with age I see this being a knockout.  I can see this aging for up to 10-12 years.  Maybe longer 2016 is such a great vintage as it allies finesse, power and just the most insane freshness all at once. Freshness is so key in Bordeaux as wines can tend to be lactic, oaky and rich due to a general change in winemaking over the last 20-30 years. This is not that at all and combine that with the amazing 2016 vintage this is what Bordeaux should be at $25 a bottle that  rarely if ever is. Do not sleep on this. I rarely if ever sell Bordeaux this great for $24.99. It's one of the best values of the year.

The Medoc can have challenging terroir as some of the vineyards are on soil that is more clay-dominated.  Le Reysse has some terrific terroir on its vineyards that border Roland de By, which is a favorite wine of mine from this area.


I am also offering another wine from the La Reysse winemaker, Stefan Paeffgen that is just an outstanding value. The 2016 Clos du Moulin Medoc can be had for $18.99 each on a 4-pack. This is the more Burgundian of the two and a bottle of the 2015 recently knocked me out and was even better on day 2. How often can one say that about an under $20 Bordeaux?  This is value you do not see every day. This wine has its obsessive fans and in 2016 they better back up the truck. I've reserved the last 200 bottles as it is already sold out. It is silky, with such well-defined and vivid fruit and insane acidity/freshness and such amazing persistence. The fruit is red and deep. This is another baby vin de garde from Stefan Paeffgen and really will cellar well for 7-8 years. I have had around 4 bottles of the 2012 Clos du Moulin over the past 2 years and each one was better than the next. It's in such a great place now. Another one of those wines that 5-6 years just takes it to another level 2016 has ripe, juicy fruit a wonderful sense of place, refined there but not there tannins, but when the tannins are there, they are so ripe and so juicy. Again, so silly for a wine of this quality. It is best, for me, on the 3rd day and it, oddly enough, needs a longer decant than the 2016 La Reysee to start showing its stuff.

2016 Chateau La Reysse Medoc - $26.99 ($99.96 4-pack) (LIMITED)

2016 Clos du Moulin Medoc - $20.99 ($75.96 4-pack) 

(VERY LIMITED)