La Closerie de Malescasse
Haut Medoc
2003
Aldi Stores £9.99
Last week saw three momentous events - I became 47, Harry failed his second driving test and Ruth made a good enough recovery to start coming home for visits from hospital.
Even with Harry's disappointment, I felt that the best way to celebrate and commiserate in equal measure was to crack open a bottle that had been in the rack for, ooh, all of 24 hours. The bottle in question was a Grand Vin de Bordeaux Claret from Aldi's Premium Wine selection and I'm pleased to say that this little number lived up to its premium position on the shelves. However, just to temper my enthusiasm slightly I found this particular wine not quite as intense nor as well rounded as the previous bombshell from Aldi the Chateau Grand Pey Lescours, 2004, see further down the blog for my entry on 2 October, which was an absolute 5* delight.
This may be partly due to the fact that La Closerie de Malescasse is, in fact, the second label (and therefore in classification terms the lesser) of the Chateau Malescasse which is a Cru Bourgois Superieur. By the way, for those of you who have yet to get your heads around the complex classification of Bordeaux wines fear not as copious help is at hand with what I believe to be the definitive and only truly readable guide to the whole subject written by none other than Oz Clarke. The book, unsurprisingly titled 'Bordeaux', is published by Time Warner Books and remains one of the best bed time reads of the last decade, particularly if you like Bordeaux wines and even more so if you like Mr Clarke's emminently readable style. The man's a genius.
Anyway, back to this little number which, even though its classification effectively makes it a poorer cousin against its grander brother, is a perfect example of a light and supple claret which is a true pleasure to drink. Thanks to its ripe tannins and smooth flavours of red berries the wine had enough personality to stand up for itself against a very gutsy French meal of ratatouille and a cheese board of hairy chested Camberbert and Brie. In fact, the wine very much came in to its own alongside all these rapidly devoured food items.
Where it was a tad disappointing was with its lack of length on the palate and a certain shallowness in intensity. It all slipped down far too easily without making a full flavour close encounter on the palate. Even so, despite its lightness of touch, I enjoyed it very much.
All in all a very good example of a well made, well contructed Claret that would please many different palates. However, it didn't quite deserve the detailed consideration I thought I would need to give a wine of this provenance - and because of this it lost a few points. However, it's a sure fire bet for poise and elegance, if less of a winner on the big flavours I was looking for.
Very Decent Wine: 7/10
Dinner Party Appeal: 6/10 (others might steal the show)
Probability of buying again: 6/10
Value for Money: 5/10 (another £1 buys you a very different wine altogether - Chateau Grand Pey Lescours, also from Aldi)
Read some more of Oz Clarke last night and he really does know his stuff. This man has walked and travelled the length and breadth of Bordeaux.
ReplyDelete