2009 Chateau Puygueraud Cotes de Francs 750 ml

A Rare 2009 of True Pedigree — Direct from the Château

In 1946, the Belgian wine merchant Georges Thienpont emigrated to France and purchased two Right Bank properties in the Côtes de Francs — the famous Vieux Château-Certan in Pomerol and Château Puygueraud (pronounced pwee-gair-oh). That was just the beginning.

Today, members of the Thienpont family stand behind some of the most revered Right Bank châteaux, namely Le Pin (the most expensive wine in the world) and the famous Vieux Château Certain.The family wisdom runs through Nicolas Thienpont’s veins, too, as he manages the high-scoring Saint-Émilion properties Pavie-Macquin and Larcis Ducasse with assistance from Stéphane Derenoncourt. In 2005, The Wine Advocate gave 100 points to Larcis Ducasse, which has since regularly upstaged Cheval Blanc.

But most of us can’t afford the Cheval Blancs and First Growths of the world.

If you’re one of the avid collectors who have filled our inboxes with bargain requests, asking us to seek out perfectly stored, highly rated, affordable Bordeaux: We heard you. After many months of correspondence with Nicolas Thienpont, who also oversees production at Château Puygueraud, we finally secured an allocation from the 2009 vintage — Robert Parker’s “finest vintage I have tasted in 32 years of covering Bordeaux.”

While nearly all of the voluptuous 2009s from Bordeaux’s Right and Left Banks have long disappeared, a few remain — from a bargain-hunting perspective, none more jaw-dropping than the radiant 2009 Château Puygueraud.

While back-to-back 100-point scores from Parker inflated the prices of Nicolas’ 2009 and 2010 Château Beauséjour-Duffau-Lagarosse, Puygueraud, situated 10 miles east of Saint-Emilion, offers one of the best quality to price ratios in Bordeaux. With most collectors eyeing Le Pin, Larcis-Ducasse, and Lagarosse, Puygueraud has maintained a cool under-the-radar profile, while Thienpont churns out full-bodied and generous wines with remarkable fruit concentration and 10-15 years of aging potential.

Tasted at the château with Thienpont back in July, we gushed over the velvety 2009 Château Puygueraud Bordeaux Côtes de Francs. Brilliant deep purple, fading ruby at the rim, this generous Right Bank beauty shows the power and freshness of the 2009 vintage. Full-bodied, fleshy fruit and supple tannins round out a soft mid-palate, while a succulent core of black cherry, licorice, and cassis gives way to a lengthy finish tinged with whispers of smoke and tobacco spice.

James Suckling, praising Puygueraud’s “always excellent value,” awarded it 92 points, making this without a doubt the highest-scoring, best-value 2009 Côtes de Francs on the market.

We don’t get this excited very often. We’re offering a taste of potentially one of the greatest vintages of a lifetime at just $28/bottle. Shipping included on 4.