Château Maurac Haut-Médoc Cru Bourgeois 2016

Born in an outstanding vintage, the 2016 Château Maurac Haut-Médoc (92 points – Wine Enthusiast) captures the essence and exceptional quality of the much touted 2016 Bordeaux vintage. For openers, the 2016 Château Maurac is a deeply colored wine whose youthful bouquet provides an amplifying draught of blackberry, cedar, fennel, and plum to entice the nose. Yet, it’s in the mouth that the 2016 Château Maurac truly begins to reveal its true potential, power, and complexity. It offers a wealth of ripe berry and black fruit flavors and great concentration – hallmarks of the 2016 vintage and the splendid weather enjoyed that year throughout the Haut-Médoc. Although there is already a lot going on in this wine and much to admire, the outstanding 2016 vintage is exceptionally age worthy. Consequently, the youthful 2016 Château Maurac will continue to benefit from additional time in the bottle. Behind Château Maurac’s deep down fruit flavors lies a tannic core that should easily carry the wine into the next decade and offer the consummate red wine drinker the exquisite pleasure of consuming a complex, mature, sumptuous Haut-Médoc of the highest order. Whether you opt to drink this exceptional Bordeaux now or later, we strongly suggest that you afford the 2016 Château Maurac Haut-Médoc plenty of aeration prior to consuming at 58°-62° F. An hour or more in a decanter should be ideal. Enjoy!

The classic 2016 Château Maurac Haut-Médoc provides the perfect accompaniment to grilled beef and lamb as well as many traditional French and American favorites. Fine red Bordeaux the stature of the 2016 Château Maurac deserve to be brought to table in the company of the finest fare one can muster. Some of our perennial pairings with this exceptional Bordeaux are Duck à l’Orange, Escalopes de Veau à la Crème (Medallions of Veal in a Mushroom Cream Sauce), Gigot d’Agneau (Roast Leg of Lamb), and Tournedos Rossini (Filet Mignon with Artichoke Hearts, Foie Gras, Truffles, and Madeira Sauce). All provide wonderful accompaniments to highlight Claude Gaudin’s concentrated, full-bodied red wine. However, a good old-fashioned grilled Ribeye or New York Strip also makes a fine companion to Claude Gaudin’s excellent and age worthy 2016 Château Maurac Haut-Médoc. Simpler selections and the world’s finest cheeses shine in Château Maurac’s company as well. Homemade bread and classic French cheeses such as Cantal and Pont L’Eveque offer excellent alternatives to haute cuisine to accompany the 2016 Château Maurac. Salut!

In Bordeaux, the world’s most renowned wine appellation, location and vintage mean almost everything. The realtor’s mantra: “location, location, location” certainly rings true in Bordeaux. First comes terroir, which is all about location, and then comes weather, which makes the vintage. The 2016 Château Maurac has both of these bases covered: Château Maurac hails from an ideal location in the Haut-Médoc on the border of St-Estèphe, and the 2016 vintage is nothing short of outstanding in Bordeaux. In addition, Château Maurac has third base covered in expert winemaker Claude Gaudin.

Château Maurac is strategically situated in Bordeaux’s Haut-Médoc, which is home to the renowned wines of Margaux, St. Julien, Pauillac and St. Estèphe. Château Maurac lies just outside the boundaries of these smaller, more famous communes, just a stone’s throw from St. Estèphe. It is a beautiful estate of 24 acres located near the fabled châteaux of Sociando-Mallet and Chateau Charmail. Its soil is a blend of clay, gravel, and limestone, making it an ideal site for both Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Winemaker and vineyard manager Claude Gaudin fashions classic Haut-Médoc Bordeaux, a deep intense wine that can age beautifully for a decade or more, from nearly equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Gaudin fervently adheres to the adage that fine wine is made in the vineyard. Consequently, he has opted for a very dense plantation of vines at Château Maurac that naturally reduces the yield per vine and increases the concentration in the resulting wine. Traditional vinification prevails at Château Maurac and is followed by ageing in a combination of new and aged oak barrels. All of this adds up to ripe, structured Bordeaux of great concentration.