2014 Château Gemeillan Médoc 750 ml

Château Gemeillan’s 2014 is practically the definition of insider Bordeaux. Made by one of the Médoc’s most important winemakers—a master who counts Latour, Margaux, Lafite, and Mouton Rothschild as clients—it boasts a 94-point score and an incredible price.

We’ve been following their winemaker, Eric Boissenot, for years. Decanter called him “one of the most influential figures in Bordeaux,” but said that “apart from industry insiders, few people know of him.” It’s a tribute to his low-key personality and desire to stay out of the spotlight. 

In addition to guiding the First Growths, Boissenot serves as an enologist for a select set of value-oriented Médoc châteaux, like Gemeillan. Those wines are coveted by the savviest shops and restaurants in Bordeaux-crazy markets like the UK, making them some of the region's hardest bottles to get—but our persistence and connections paid off with today’s offer.

Eric has captured the soul of the classical 2014 vintage in this bottle, which balances pretty aromatics of black currants and red cherries against cedar, graphite, and dried thyme in a profile that reminds us of much pricier wines from St.-Estèphe. On the palate, Gemeillan is beautifully refined, with elegant tannins that drive the fruit forward into a long, lingering finish.

2014 is one of our favorite recent vintages in Bordeaux. A cool year led to a warm fall, which translated to wines with beautifully pure fruit and approachable tannins. And because the 2015 Bordeaux hype-train had already left the station when this vintage was released, the 2014s are some of the most underpriced Bordeaux wines in recent memory—despite Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate giving the season an “outstanding” rating. 

Château Gemeillan excelled in the vintage, and Eric assembled a blend of 50% Merlot—which contributes the wine's up-front fruit, silky tannins, and cacao accents—and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon, which brings dark-berry flavors and classic Left Bank accents of graphite, cedar, and tobacco. A touch of Cabernet Franc rounds out the wine, lifting the aromatics and grounding it with a background note of earth.

This is a wine that we haven’t been able to keep our hands off since it arrived. Classically-built Bordeaux like this always seems to find a way onto our table, and the cases we swore would last for a year or two are already running low. Plan accordingly.