Chateau Noaillac, Medoc, 2016

Real Medoc claret at an everyday price, that's the whole pitch here, and in a vintage as strong as 2016 it's a genuinely good one. Chateau Noaillac sits in the northern Medoc, revitalized by the Pages family (of Chateau La Tour de By fame), and turns out a fresh, balanced, Merlot-led blend rounded out with Cabernet Sauvignon and a little Petit Verdot. The 2016 rode one of the Left Bank's excellent recent vintages: ripe, precise fruit with the structure to give it backbone. Aged about a year in French oak, it delivers classic cassis, cedar and earth. Decant it and pour it with a weeknight roast.