I will plead guilty of having borrowed this heading from an article by Master of Wine (only 289 of them in the world today) Tim Atkin and he chooses ten from the approximately 8,000 Chateau properties that exist in Bordeaux. In 1855 61 were “classified” as the very best and this was based on prices that they had fetched over the previous century. Selecting from the remaining 7,939 can be a challenge that is worth accepting as many very fine bottles can be purchased at quite reasonable prices. Tim’s top ten include four that we have in stock and may I suggest that any of them would make a fine gift, or partner well with lamb, beef, wild game and goose.

Some years ago I picked up the phone in my office and the caller informed me that he was Jonathan Maltus and he asked if I knew who he was, to which I honestly replied “no”. Anyway that was the start of a relationship with “Le Englishman” as he was labelled by his French neighbours in St Emilion. His “Garagiste” approach to small batch wine making was new and unique. We list a few vintages of Jonathan’s Chateau Teyssier St Emilion Grand Cru and as this is a special time of the year I would like to suggest the 2009 which is an early maturing and very classic vintage on “The Right Bank” as St Emilion is often called because of its location on a large river. Robert Parker rates the 2009 92/100 and writes “this is the finest Teyssier that I have tasted. This 85 percent Merlot and 15 percent Cabernet Franc over achieves with notes of charcoal, blackberry, cassis and spring flowers. Opulent, sumptuously textured, dense, pure, multi-dimensional”.

A bottle will cost you $33.70 and if you are wondering why it missed the esteemed 1855 classification, the fact is that their very first vintage was in 1994 and more than that, those folks 158 years ago did not include a single St Emilion and so they had to wait to do their own classification 100 years later.

A good guide to quality is ownership, for instance a simple Medoc wine called Chateau Pontensac is owned by Jean-Hubert Delon who also owns the great classified Chateau Leoville-Las-Cases in St Julien. We stock the 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009 Pontensac and I will share with you some facts on 2009 as well, as it might be interesting to compare the one above with this. The wine is composed of 48 percent Merlot, 38 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 14 percent Cabernet Franc. It is quite powerful with pure fruit like blackberries followed by cassis and flower petals. $48.20.

The commune of Moulis is roughly the size of Paget (small) and certainly not as renowned as some, but I have fond memories there and we always carry some of their wines. We list the Chateau Poujeaux 2006 and 2009, but let’s get away from the latter year and chat about the 2006 which is showing some good bottle age at this time. One could argue that Chateau Latour is the grandest of all Bordeaux properties, certainly among the top five, and as the owner also once owned Poujeaux maybe some of the class has rubbed off, as this modest vineyard represents excellent value. Poujeaux is often compared with far more pricey wines and for $48 you will get a quintessential Moulis that is smooth and dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon. Former French President Georges Pompidou was an avid fan and he often served it at the Elysee Palace. I have now run out of space and can only say that the fourth wine is Domaine de Chevalier and we have the well aged 1995 and 1996 at this time.

Michael Robinson is Director of Wine at Burrows, Lightbourn Ltd. He can be contacted at mrobinson@bll.bm or on 295-0176. Burrows, Lightbourn have stores in Hamilton (Front Street East, 295-1554), Paget (Harbour Road, 236-0355) and St George’s (York Street, 297-0409). A selection of their wines, beers and spirits are available online at www.wineonline.bm.