Pessac-Leognan
13 products
As a casual reminder, the Left Bank of Bordeaux was classified into tiers in 1855 (only one - Mouton - has been added to the top tier since); Graves (now Pessac) was endowed with only one winery in the entire 5-tier ranking. So annoyed were they that it took another century before Graves made up their own ranking system, further illuminating the top wineries of the region. Look - it's ultimately all marketing, and sometimes the French just make it up as they go.
But wow! The wines are dynamic! Similar blends to Pauillac, Saint-Julien and St. Estephe take on a whole new meaning on these gravelly soils, as the wines are more lifted and bright, and provide insane value thanks to what I said in that first paragraph. Furthermore, this is exactly where you want to go for wines from "poor" vintages, because thanks to those soils, the wines never seem dilute, and the vines produce stellar wines.
Of course, the stars are the two Chateaux bearing the "Haut-Brion" in their name. Formerly bitter rivals, "La Miss", as we call it, was purchased by the owner of Chateau Haut-Brion in the eighties. They still make very different wines: La Miss a deeper-hued, darker style, while HB is equally classy while retaining an added dose of Spring-y freshness; blind-tasting a '59 Haut-Brion is to imagine you're drinking a wine from the '80s. It's the thinking man's Bordeaux.
