2020 Chateau de Bachen Barocco Guerard Family IGP Landes 750 ml

When the late culinary legend Michel Guérard—whose restaurant has held three Michelin stars for over 45 years—decided to make wine worthy of his rigorous standards, he didn’t go to Bordeaux. He passed up those world-famous vineyards and headed 20 or so miles south, straight to the wild Landes appellation. 

Some might call the move risky. Some might even call it foolish. But after a glass of the opulent, layered 2020 Chateau de Bachen Barocco, you (like us) will probably call it visionary. 

Crafted with guidance from the famed Pétrus winemaker Jean-Claude Berrouet, this Merlot-based blend is rich and muscular, but not overpowering. It’s aromatically effusive, with waves of boysenberry, black cherry, lilac, violet, pencil shavings, and dark chocolate. The palate is just as complex, with rich dark fruit and baking spices that mingle on a bed of powerful tannins. And even though it accompanies some of the most famous wines in the world on the wine list at Guérard’s restaurant, it easily holds its own at the table. 

Landes occupies the wild, heavily forested land between Bordeaux and the Spanish border, where its proximity to the Atlantic gives it a temperate maritime climate. However, the region’s dense pine forests shelter vineyards from some of the more bracing ocean winds, and the Pyrenees mountains to the south bring significant diurnal temperature swings, leading to lush and aromatically vibrant red wines. 

To this day, the Guérard family calls Château de Bachen home. They planted vines there in the early 80s, and have been producing stellar wines since 1987. The Barocco is modeled after Bordeaux’s celebrated Right Bank wines: A generous portion of Merlot gives it plush fruit and silky texture, while Cabernet Franc contributes structure and Tannat adds deep color and savory complexity. 

Pour a glass and you’ll know exactly what Guérard knew: that the excellence of southwest France goes way beyond Bordeaux—it’s hiding in every corner of the region.