Spending $100+ on a fancy bottle of Bordeaux is a rare treat, but what about Monday through Friday?
What about casual summer BBQs when a $20 bottle of French Claret and a plate of grilled steaks will more than suffice?
Having a deep cellar is wonderful, but you still need cases of weeknight Bordeaux to round out the mix.
When it comes to Bordeaux, Mission has always dabbled in the marketplace, keeping a small selection of classified growths on hand to satisfy the local demand. However, with the birth of our new direct import program in 2021, we’re now purchasing wines directly from France, bringing in private containers via ship, in order to offer Mission customers the best prices possible—with no middleman!
I had the privilege of both learning about Bordeaux with K&L owner Clyde Beffa and Bordeaux specialist Ralph Sands for more than a decade, and at the end of my tenure I was traveling to Bordeaux with the team to taste the upcoming vintages, helping to market the newest arrivals. Let’s just say that I seriously caught the Bordeaux bug during that time. I love it. To me, it’s the greatest wine in the world. You’ve got high end, low end, red, white, sweet, and everything in between—every wine has its time and place.
Getting to use that hands-on education and those connections to bring Mission into the Bordeaux landscape is simply thrilling.
Personally, there are few greater pleasures in life than a finely-aged Bordeaux and a big, juicy steak. The combination never ceases to thrill me.
For those of you who want to try a great, finely-aged Bordeaux without breaking the bank, we’ve just brought in our first direct shipment: the 2016 Château Peyrabon for $19.99.
As Vinous critic Neil Martin wrote in his review: This wine exudes class. A blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet France, the richness of the 2016 vintage is on full display with plenty of black fruits on the palate and an elegance on the finish that is usually reserved for wines at twice the price.
You get the dark, lush, black-fruited palate, tinged with an iron-y, almost bloody, mineral finish. The best of both worlds for a hot, hot price.
Now where’s that steak?
-David Driscoll