Amiral de Beychevelle 2008

Amiral de Beychevelle is the second wine of the distinctively labelled and well known Saint-Julien estate, Chateau Beychevelle.  In 2008, in the Amiral de Beychevelle, this estate has fashioned a very good and classic Bordeaux left-bank wine, a blend of 62% cabernet sauvignon, 31% merlot, 5% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot.  My long held view has been that the second wines of the great Bordeaux estates produce good value wines that often closely resemble their more expensive siblings.  They are, however, not always easy to find in Australia.

The specifics?  The 2008 vintage is ruby in colour with a medium to pronounced level of colour saturation.  It opens to a classic medium intensity aroma of blackcurrant and cigar box.  On the palate, this is a classicly proportioned wine, with evident tannins, enjoyable length, medium acidity and blackcurrant flavours.  In a word, "classy".  Drink over the next 10 years.  89 points

Abv: 14%

Price: $78

Source: sample

Website: http://www.beychevelle.com/ (importer: http://www.discovervin.com.au/)

Tasted: January 2012