Chateau Poitevin, Medoc, 2019

Chateau Poitevin sits deep in the Medoc, in the village of Jau-Dignac-et-Loirac, where Guillaume Poitevin has been quietly building a reputation since the early '90s. The estate farms gravelly soils ideal for Cabernet Sauvignon, blended here with Merlot and a little Petit Verdot, and earned Cru Bourgeois Superieur status in 2018. The 2019 is classic left-bank Medoc: structured, savory, and built around cassis and graphite, the kind of honest claret that rewards a decant or a few more years in the cellar. Proper Bordeaux at a price that still makes sense.