2014 Chateau de Birot Cadillac Cotes de Bordeaux 750 ml

Client Favorite $20 Bordeaux in Outstanding Vintage

The wait is over: The 2014 Château de Birot Bordeaux Rouge is the new edition of the Right Bank stunner that Wine Access clients snapped up when we first offered it early this summer. The gorgeous 90-acre Birot estate overlooking the Garonne has consistently nailed the value sweet spot since being purchased by the Fournier family in 1989. Before elevating Birot into one of the Right Bank’s biggest overachievers, the Fourniers owned Saint-Émilion’s Premier Grand Cru Classé Château Canon, which Robert Parker noted had “attained a quality that equals that of the St. Émilions like Cheval Blanc and Ausone” at “nowhere near these other wines in price.” The Fourniers sold Birot at the very end of 2014, so this vintage — Bordeaux’s best since the historic 2010 harvest — was the family’s last. Full and vibrant, showing impressive dark fruit and savory complexity, if our last offer was any indication, these 125 cases will disappear just as fast.

Arthur Fournier was fortunate. When he took over winemaking duties at Château de Birot from his father Eric in 2010, his parents had been producing stunningly high-value wines on Birot’s elegant plateau for 21 years. His job was simply to stay the course: to keep Birot producing to the level of its outstanding terroir, and beyond its modest price.

Judging by the fruits of Birot’s recent vintages, Fournier fils has done his family proud. Arthur has stayed on as winemaker and maintained the estate’s lofty standards as ownership of the property has changed hands, but make no mistake: 2014 marks the end of an era at Birot.

Our first offer of Birot earned it a prime spot in our pantheon of incredible discovery wines, and earned Wine Access a call from the importer when the stellar 2014 vintage was on its way Stateside.