Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts

What is your favorite Medoc appellation?

While historically I vote for St. Julien. In recent vintages, I've been buying more Margaux.

Bill

Yes, I've been buying a lot of Margaux as well William P., as well, as neighbors like Cantemerle, La Lagune, etc.

My order is Pauillac, St Estephe and so forth....

It's a tough call because on any given day...either of these appellations could be my favorite...I love each one for their unique terroir.

I went with St. Julien only because '82 Talbot was the best bordeaux I have ever tasted.

When I was young, it was Saint-Julien - until 1985 or so, later on Pauillac, and today, as an old man, 62, it is Margaux. Subtlety, refinement, and understatement are the keywords today...

I can't tell the difference between appellations/communes, "typicity" wise. At least not by tasting different wines from different appellations/communes. From reading up the subject I "know" Margaux is supposed to be the lighter, more floral or whatever and St. Estephe is supposed to be the more manly/rustic, but in practice I have had wines fitting those bills from each appellation/commune. So my default would be to favor on price, in which in rank order would put me something like St. Estephe, Graves (or maybe vice versa), St. Julien (although here I find more consistency in typicity maybe), Margaux, Paulliac (or vice versa on these last two).

I think the poll is flawed as the Graves sub region is a left bank appellation but not a Medoc one. My current pecking order would go something like this; Pauillac, Saint Julien, Saint Estephe and then Margaux but I could see myself flip flopping a little based on what I might be drinking at present

I can remember Bruno Prats of Cos d'Estournel telling me that appellation typicity was imaginary. He said that the Médoc should not be divided into "vertical slices", but rather seen as a "chapelet" i.e. a string of "croupes" gravelly rises running parallel to the Gironde, i.e. North/South.

Alex R.

I want to vote for six.

BTW: Graves is not in the Medoc.

Yes but, like the merchants in 1855, I feel licensed to throw it in there.

I picked St Julien, because they have Chateau Talbot, but I like St Estephe and Margaux about as much. Too little experience with Pauillac to make a judgement there.

Q. What is my favorite Medoc appellation?

A. Whichever one that is in my glass.

Chris Bublitz

Oh you dog Chris. You are right of course.

But as for this business that there is not distinctiveness between appellations.
Geez, I jut gotta disagree.

I'm sure there are exceptions, but:
St. Estephe: Rustic
Pauillac: Tannic, cassis, cedar. Bold.
St. Julien: More "elegant" than Pauillac, but with a lot of the same traits.
Margaux: Floral, pretty, fruity.
Pessac/Graves: Distinctive, gravelly, stones. VERY different than Pauillac.

And Moulis? Where is Moulis?

Clearly for me it is Saint- Julien. It is the only aoc in the Médoc that I guess all the wines produced there have good quality, with all the Crus Classés being all interesting, with a great style mixing Pauillac and Margaux. Great homogeneity, an my favorite even if the high peaks are higher in Pauillac, but there are no lows in Saint-Julien. All other aoc have underperformers.

Nic

Is Branaire St. Julien's GPL?

James, don't be a troll.

Bill (a Branaire drinker)

I think we should do a GPL vs. Branaire blind tasting.

Chateau Branaire : another reason why I like Saint-Julien.

3 Léoville
Ducru Beaucaillou
Gruaud Larose
Lagrange
Beychevelle
Talbot
Branaire
Saint-Pierre
Langoa

No Croizet-Bages, no Desmirail, no Pavie, only excellent properties!

Nic

Bringing that one back, focusing on favorite.

Saint Julien for sentimental reason.
Solely Latour.
But that's no appellation i guess?
Margaux is in the pole position now, for reasons.

I was gonna say Pessac is south of the Medoc but I see Stefan beat me to it. By 6 years. Since it was an available choice, I picked it. Which made the job a lot easier. In the Medoc, I could give you a different answer each day of the week. Most days it would be Pauillac, with St Julien close behind. Except those days i’m thinking of Palmer. Or Montrose.