Drinks - The Magazine of Fine Wine, Spirits and Living- Roger MorrisDec. 2005

Bargain Bordeaux

It’s still possible to find good-value wines from France’s premier wine region - If you know where to look

...These so-called petits châteaux interest François Thienpont, and his small booth at the Vinexpo trade show on the outskirts of Bordeaux city, he talks about his four-year-old venture with Stephane Derenoncourt. Both men are among the Bordeaux wine elite, and they wanted a venture “to its sources of viticulture, winemaking, marketing, everything.”
The result is Terra Burdigala (the ancient name for Bordeaux). The company now sells nine different red and white Bordeaux in the United states at retail prices from about $ 8 to $25. The partners plan to keep it that size for now.

One of the Burdigala’s wines is the rich, silky, Merlot-driven 2003 Château Manoir du Gravoux, from one of Derenoncourt’s properties in the Côtes de Castillon. “We waited an extra 10 days to pick (after the sugar had arrived at the proper level) for the phenolics,” Thienpont says proudly.
They are many other properties in these outposts on the Right Bank - properties that use modern winegrowing techniques and methods but are located in areas not recognized by many American drinkers... Château Puygueraud in the Côtes de Francs is another example.