Interesting list but when looking up most of the wines, they had limited US availability.
Need I also consider the source? 
I wouldn’t, if I was you. 
Lawrence… I taste these wine in Bordeaux every year, so I would not know what is in the states or not. But I would have thought many of these wines are available here, at least on release. The easiest way to check is to use the site, go to the page of the wine you are interested in and look at the tasting notes. You can go directly to winesearcher from each note.
A lot of these wines might not be sold as futures so you will not see 2015, until the end of spring, or later this year.
But out of about 150 wines tasted, in the values category, 2015 and 2016 are packed with $30 and under wines worth drinking. I bought a few for my own cellar.
I was interested in the Maison Blanche but the rating was 83 points. Not a rating I would buy on.
Those seem like interesting enough wines, but if they’re $30+ there are plenty of reliable, proven estates that are the same or less money. On the left bank, give a shot to easily found Greysac or Bernadotte. In the south maybe Cambon la Pelouse or Chantegrive. On the right side Grand Corbin Despagne and moderniste Barde Haut are consistent.
Firms like K&L with deep BDX spectrums are pretty safe to pick from in good vintages, even if the wine is not so well known.
2014 Chateau Landiras, Graves, is an excellent QPR at $15. Happy to drink it for dinner during the week.
Another superb bottle of 2001 Fleur Rose Sainte-Croix last night. Seamless, precise, and amazingly balanced. 12,5% alcohol. Mature Listrac at its finest. Easily the equivalent of a third growth or so…
I just got notice that my case of 375s are soon arriving at Total ($14.95). 24 Tuesday night pleasures (years hence).
Yeah, but are any of these value bdx worth cellaring? Or just popping open upon arrival
Define worth. For my palate most will improve with at least some age
Getting better with age would be a plus but I would hope for just remaining as good to drink 10 years later as the day purchased.
There is no better value category in the world than the Petite Chateaux from Bordeaux -
While the better wines from the Medoc, Haut-Medoc, Listrac, Moulis appellations are getting a little more expensive, you can still find wonderful bargains from the Cotes de Blaye, Bourg, Cotes de Castillon, Lalande de Pomerol and the St Emilion satellites across the river. Even the Cotes de Bordeaux, the hills south of the City is producing some elegant wines.
SO many labels to choose from, I have been putting away the little wines of Bordeaux since the late 1970s, and usually drink them around 10 years of age.
The 2009’s are really drinking beautiful now -
The other cool thing about Petite Chateaux is; you can cherry pick to the max - with classified growths, you are often purchasing lesser vintages (because they are significantly less then top vintages) and doing a lot of research to find the hidden gems/values. With Petite Chateaux, you can still find 2005, 2009, 2010 offerings all over the place. Mix up a case for $200 and start popping corks -
Few of the ones mentioned (certainly none of the ones I mentioned) would fall apart in 10 years. I won’t drink the 15 Cantemerle halves for at least 7-8, and expect to drink the last one in 15+, and I expect the last one to be the best
Smart move. I really should be doing this, buying my QPRs in 375 format.
I agree, if you’re not worried about big names and historic estates, Bordeaux is full of great value, especially in strong vintages.
These are the wines you wish you’d find on restaurant wine lists. A good 2010 or 2014 $20 Bordeaux selling off the list for $50 or so. But you almost never do. It’s instead a mishmash of insanenly expensive trophies, off vintages, and too-young wines.
The cynic in me thinks restaurants don’t want you to have those options, they want you to have to choose more expensive wines in order to get anything good.
Both. It depends on the wine, the vintage and at what stage you like drinking your wine. Generally speaking, Left Bank value wines at the top end can age quite well, but those are the exception not the rule. Aging meaning, they require, or are better with 5-10 years of age.
However, there are also gems in the Right Bank that can age and improve for 5-15 years as well.
Vineyard and vintage count with value wines, just like they do with the top end wines.
If it helps, I have reasonable guesstimates on aging for all the wines covered on my value list.
I didn’t buy many 2015s, but I did just the opposite with Cantemerle. Instead of 375s, I plunked down for 2 cases of mags to lay down for family functions 20 years from now.
As for less known QPRs, Le Tour de By is usually really nice sub-$20.
This.
I opened two bottles of '09 Larose-Trintaudon last weekend. Both were very nice, popped and poured.
The most likely family function for us to hold in 20 years will be my funeral. And I hope my wife opens something better than a Cantemerle