Weekly Poll: What is your favorite Medoc appellation?

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:28 am

What is your favorite Medoc appellation?

William P · Post by **William P** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:38 am

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

Bill

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 12:40 am

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

Chateau Vin · Post by **Chateau Vin** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 2:05 am

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

robert goulet · Post by **robert goulet** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 3:06 am

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.

Rudi Finkler · Post by **Rudi Finkler** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 6:05 am

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...

AlohaArtakaHoundsong · Thu Jan 11, 2018 7:03 am

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).

jckba · Post by **jckba** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 1:38 pm

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

AlexR · Post by **AlexR** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 3:42 pm

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.

stefan · Post by **stefan** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 5:02 pm

I want to vote for six.

BTW: Graves is not in the Medoc.

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 5:09 pm

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

Racer Chris · Post by **Racer Chris** » Thu Jan 11, 2018 6:11 pm

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.

Winona Chief · Post by **Winona Chief** » Fri Jan 12, 2018 12:53 am

Q. What is my favorite Medoc appellation?

A. Whichever one that is in my glass.

Chris Bublitz

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Fri Jan 12, 2018 1:39 am

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.

Antoine · Post by **Antoine** » Mon Jan 15, 2018 8:17 pm

And Moulis? Where is Moulis?

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Tue Jan 16, 2018 2:24 am

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

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Jan 16, 2018 2:54 am

Is Branaire St. Julien's GPL?

William P · Post by **William P** » Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:03 am

James, don't be a troll.

Bill (a Branaire drinker)

JimHow · Post by **JimHow** » Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:21 am

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

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Tue Jan 16, 2018 12:05 pm

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

Nicklasss · Post by **Nicklasss** » Mon Mar 11, 2024 4:44 pm

Bringing that one back, focusing on favorite.

Ognik · Post by **Ognik** » Mon Mar 11, 2024 6:25 pm

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

DavidG · Post by **DavidG** » Wed Mar 13, 2024 2:12 am

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.