Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

00 Fleur de Bouqueryran [Moulis] Served on the cold side, over 3 days. Stood up a week ahead of time, but still heavy sediment in the final glass. Nose isn't expressive, and the wine tilts toward the angular side. Medium bodied and only 12.5% abv which seems low for a ripe vintage, and modern Bordeaux in general. Color is dark for its age, and although the taste seems like its on a maturity plateau since whatever grapiness or oakiness might have been there (presumably) once is gone or integrated, there no lightening at the edges yet. No development of tertiary notes, or additional complexity. Finish is 15 second length. I get some cedar and incense on the palate. It's a masculine wine, that probably deserved a better pairing than a pork burrito. Small production cuvee so purchased en primeur; I've never seen it offered since although to be fair, have never expressly looked for it. I guess it gets a B, but thinking back, I gave the 00 Potensac a B recently too, and that's a better wine in just about all dimensions.

PS: Unfortunately, despite the merchant stating when I ordered that wines would be held until all my futures had arrived, their shipping dept. decided a few years later not to honor that, and sent the odd stuff I'd ordered from them (including this) in dribs and drabs as the vendor themselves received them. So this $15 wine (circa 2000) cost another $11 in shipping. Annoying, irritating lesson learned, and one vendor crossed off my list forever. I understand that holding random bottles is troublesome for retailers, but if that's the case, just ask that customers only order pre arrival offerings in multiples of 6 or 12, which are more shipping efficient for everyone.

I had my last/only/final bottle of this over the last two days.

It's a far throw from the comparable vintage/AOC of the 00 Chasse Spleen, which was lovely.

A solid but unemotional wine at this point. It probably was better younger.

Even after two days the nose is clenched tight, maybe a touch of smoke/flint.

My main takeaway, and suggestion to others: be thoughtful who one orders futures/prearrivals from.

Price is not the only thing to shop for, the terms & conditions of the whole bargain matter too.

Hopefully the smattering of 2010 Moulis I've stashed away will add weight more like the Chasse Spleen than this.

In the château's defense, Chasse Spleen costs roughly twice as much.

Moulis is the 2nd smallest appellation in Bordeaux.
The wines have a reputation for being rustic.
There was an effort to merge Moulis with Listrac to form the AOC Moulis-Listrac, but partisan interests nixed that.

I'll own up that I'm not a big fan of Moulis in general, but it's an AOC I should get to know better.

Alex

Bouqueryan is a tiny, dead village in Moulis. A junction with traffic lights and vineyards all over the place. Château Moulis is situated in Bouqueryan and it till should be in some sort of derelict condition. A quiet piece of France, where time stould still. I understand that 'rusticity' was invented here..

Listrac's I've tasted were all kind of gritty - I can see why the Moulis estates (are there any?) are not so keen to sign up with that terroir.

IIRC Poujeaux is around this area too, and seems to have figured out how to harness the elements and elevage.

Poujeaux rocked through 1990. I have not had any since. Now the ownership has changed.