Château CÔTE DE BALEAU
Grand cru classé
- 2021
- Saint-Émilion
A small vineyard of 8 ha of old vines (70% Merlot), owned by Clos Fourtet. Superb wine, balanced and fruity and tasty, for a very modest price, which rightly became a grand cru classé in 2012. Totally agree with La Revue du Vin de France "The best quality/price ratio in Saint-Émilion".
The 2021 vintage in the press:
La Revue du Vin de France (Guide 2025): 90/100 Coup de ♥ “The Cuvelier family signs another success in 2021. It's a typical Saint-Emilion, built on half-body, with judicious wood ageing that enhances the fruit and charming spice notes. Don't hesitate to open it now”.
Vinous (A. Galloni - December 2023): 91/100 “The 2021 Côte de Baleau is a delight. Plump, juicy and forward, the 2021 is a fine choice for drinking now and over the next decade or so. Silky tannins wrap around a core of sweet red cherry fruit, with touches of cedar, pipe tobacco, mint and mocha that linger. Charming. ”
- To keep or to drink :
- Ready to drink
- Apogée :
- 2026-2036
From the same producer
-
Bought in 2008 by M. Cuvelier (Clos Fourtet), a new era is beginning at Poujeaux under the leadership of Messrs Thienpont and Derenoncourt.
With its racy elegance, natural velvetiness and delicate yet deep texture, Poujeaux is the most Saint-Julien of the Moulis wines, and a model of style for all the crus bourgeois of the Médoc. The vintage is making steady progress, as evidenced by the 94/100 rating awarded by the Revue du Vin de France for its 2020 vintage « voilà un vin très séveux et prometteur ».
The 2020 vintage in the press:
La Revue du Vin de France (Guide 2025): 94/100 “With a fleshy side, darker fruit and great fullness. A benchmark for the vintage."
Vinous (N. Martin - December 2022): 92/100 “Poujeaux 2020 is a wonderful Moulis-en-Médoc that should offer excellent value for money. On the nose, bright blackberry mingles with blueberry and graphite, and the wine is intense and determined to make a good impression. The palate is structured but well balanced, the silver thread of acidity running from start to finish. A little glassy on the finish, it will be tempered by the bottle ageing that Poujeaux always needs. Don't ignore it."
More- To keep or to drink:
- Wait 1 to 2 years
- Apogée:
- 2026-2040
-
Bought in 2008 by M. Cuvelier (Clos Fourtet), a new era is beginning at Poujeaux under the leadership of Messrs Thienpont and Derenoncourt.
With its racy elegance, natural velvetiness and delicate yet deep texture, Poujeaux is the most Saint-Julien of the Moulis wines, and a model of style for all the crus bourgeois of the Médoc. The vintage is making steady progress, as evidenced by the 94/100 rating awarded by the Revue du Vin de France for its 2020 vintage « voilà un vin très séveux et prometteur ».
The 2019 vintage in the press:
Vinous (N. Martin - February 2022): 94/100 “The 2019 Poujeaux has a very delineated, focused bouquet of blackberry, cedar, mint and light tea leaf scents, one of the most complex I have encountered from this great estate in recent years. The medium-bodied palate is fresh, vibrant and grippy, with slightly chalky tannins and a saline, persistent finish.”
J-M Quarin (February 2022): 92/100 “The wine caresses the palate, offering a hitherto unknown sensation of fullness. Very long finish with multidimensional flavors. A great success.”
More- To keep or to drink:
- Wait 1 to 2 years
- Apogée:
- 2025-2036
-
Bought in 2008 by M. Cuvelier (Clos Fourtet), a new era is beginning at Poujeaux under the leadership of Messrs Thienpont and Derenoncourt.
With its racy elegance, natural velvetiness and delicate yet deep texture, Poujeaux is the most Saint-Julien of the Moulis wines, and a model of style for all the crus bourgeois of the Médoc. The vintage is making steady progress, as evidenced by the 94/100 rating awarded by the Revue du Vin de France for its 2020 vintage « voilà un vin très séveux et prometteur ».
More- To keep or to drink:
- Wait 1 to 2 years
- Apogée:
- 2025-2038
- Potential alcohol:
- 14.5%
-
Bought in 2008 by M. Cuvelier (Clos Fourtet), a new era is beginning at Poujeaux under the leadership of Messrs Thienpont and Derenoncourt.
With its racy elegance, natural velvetiness and delicate yet deep texture, Poujeaux is the most Saint-Julien of the Moulis wines, and a model of style for all the crus bourgeois of the Médoc. The vintage is making steady progress, as evidenced by the 94/100 rating awarded by the Revue du Vin de France for its 2020 vintage « voilà un vin très séveux et prometteur ».
More- To keep or to drink:
- Wait 1 to 2 years
- Apogée:
- 2025-2035
-
Bought in 2008 by M. Cuvelier (Clos Fourtet), a new era is beginning at Poujeaux under the leadership of Messrs Thienpont and Derenoncourt.
With its racy elegance, natural velvetiness and delicate yet deep texture, Poujeaux is the most Saint-Julien of the Moulis wines, and a model of style for all the crus bourgeois of the Médoc. The vintage is making steady progress, as evidenced by the 94/100 rating awarded by the Revue du Vin de France for its 2020 vintage « voilà un vin très séveux et prometteur ».
The 2017 vintage in the press:
Vinous (N.Martin - February 2020): 90+/100 “It seems a little pinched at the moment, but it has the weight and intensity to flesh out with bottle age. It would perhaps benefit from more complexity on the finish, but otherwise this is a well-constructed Poujeaux.”
More- To keep or to drink:
- Ready to drink
- Apogée:
- 2022-2033
-
Bought in 2008 by M. Cuvelier (Clos Fourtet), a new era is beginning at Poujeaux under the leadership of Messrs Thienpont and Derenoncourt.
With its racy elegance, natural velvetiness and delicate yet deep texture, Poujeaux is the most Saint-Julien of the Moulis wines, and a model of style for all the crus bourgeois of the Médoc. The vintage is making steady progress, as evidenced by the 94/100 rating awarded by the Revue du Vin de France for its 2020 vintage « voilà un vin très séveux et prometteur ».
More- To keep or to drink:
- Ready to drink
- Apogée:
- 2023-2038
-
A small vineyard of 8 ha of old vines (70% Merlot), owned by Clos Fourtet. Superb wine, balanced and fruity and tasty, for a very modest price, which rightly became a grand cru classé in 2012. Totally agree with La Revue du Vin de France "The best quality/price ratio in Saint-Émilion".
The 2018 vintage in the press:
La Revue du Vin de France (December 2022): 91/100 “The wine from this Cuvelier family estate,[...] offers a dynamic and sensitive profile, characterized by generous fruit. Classified in 2012, confirmed in 2022, the cru has produced on the clay-limestone and clay-sand soils of the plateau, a 2018 of relative complexity but lovely texture.”
More- To keep or to drink:
- Wait 1 to 2 years
- Apogée:
- 2025-2038
- Potential alcohol:
- 14.5%
-
Advised by Mr. Derenoncourt, Clos Fourtet regularly and unobtrusively demonstrates that the upper part of the Saint-Émilion plateau can produce wines as great as the Ausone or Pavie hillsides. Sobriety, depth, finesse and intensity are exemplary.
More- To keep or to drink:
- Wait 3 to 5 years
- Apogée:
- 2027-2042
-
Advised by Mr. Derenoncourt, Clos Fourtet regularly and unobtrusively demonstrates that the upper part of the Saint-Émilion plateau can produce wines as great as the Ausone or Pavie hillsides. Sobriety, depth, finesse and intensity are exemplary.
More- To keep or to drink:
- Wait 3 to 5 years
- Apogée:
- 2027-2042
-
Advised by Mr. Derenoncourt, Clos Fourtet regularly and unobtrusively demonstrates that the upper part of the Saint-Émilion plateau can produce wines as great as the Ausone or Pavie hillsides. Sobriety, depth, finesse and intensity are exemplary.
The 2021 vintage in the press:
La Revue du Vin de France (Guide 2025): 93/100 “It's refinement that prevails in this filiform balance carried by a breathless chalky sensation. Don't hesitate to discover it from 2025 and over the next fifteen years.”
Vinous (A. Galloni - December 2023): 94+/100 “The 2021 Clos Fourtet is a dark, imposing wine. Blackberry, gravel scorched earth, leather, incense and clove infuse the 2021 with tons of character. This is definitely a wine from a cold - a year lacking in sunshine. In that sense, Clos Fourtet is wonderfully expressive, as it paints a very accurate portrait of a place and growing season. All it needs is time to soften.”
Jean-Marc Quarin (April 2022): 94/100 “Beautiful dark red, crimson. Intense, fine, fruity, fresh and ripe nose. Delicate on the palate and immediately endowed with a meticulous, refined touch, the wine evolves tasty, tender, slightly velvety, towards a sappy finish in which a touch of vivacity returns.”
More- To keep or to drink:
- Wait 3 to 5 years
- Apogée:
- 2027-2042
-
Advised by Mr. Derenoncourt, Clos Fourtet regularly and unobtrusively demonstrates that the upper part of the Saint-Émilion plateau can produce wines as great as the Ausone or Pavie hillsides. Sobriety, depth, finesse and intensity are exemplary.
The 2019 vintage in the press:
La Revue du Vin de France (September 2022): 98/100 “A touch of tobacco, hints of fresh fruit and leaves, a chalky background: the nose offers a beautiful complexity, a promise of future delights. The perfect flesh and just the right amount of brilliance of this 2019 finish to convince us that we are in the presence of one of Saint-Emilion's greatest terroirs. Enhanced by biodymania, it delivers a wine with graphite notes, perfectly vinified. The textured silkiness of the tannin does not mask the power of the vintage. The wine retains the perfectly identifiable length of the vintage."
More- To keep or to drink:
- Wait 1 to 2 years
- Apogée:
- 2027-2042
-
Advised by Mr. Derenoncourt, Clos Fourtet regularly and unobtrusively demonstrates that the upper part of the Saint-Émilion plateau can produce wines as great as the Ausone or Pavie hillsides. Sobriety, depth, finesse and intensity are exemplary.
The 2010 vintage in the press:
En Magnum (2022): 97/100 “It takes time for the immense personality of Clos Fourtet to reveal itself, that of a deep, sappy grand cru with imperious minerality and impressive length. Certainly one of the great successes of this tasting”.
More- To keep or to drink:
- Ready to drink
- Apogée:
- 2016-2030
-
Advised by Mr. Derenoncourt, Clos Fourtet regularly and unobtrusively demonstrates that the upper part of the Saint-Émilion plateau can produce wines as great as the Ausone or Pavie hillsides. Sobriety, depth, finesse and intensity are exemplary.
More- To keep or to drink:
- Ready to drink
- Apogée:
- 2016-2030