Merlot/Cabernet Franc

Set at the foot of St Emilion’s rolling hills, Ch. Billeron Bouquey has been family-owned for over two centuries. From the 2015 vintage – which benefitted from a long, warm ripening season – this flashy red shows an attractive nose of red and black berries, with a hint of cedar. The nose gives way to a palate of generous fruit, with plenty of sweet spice, fine, firm tannins and a long, cool finish. Match it with lamb cutlets or sausages and mash for delectable results. Drink now to 2025.
Oliver Barton

Stéphane loves the ’14 vintage, describing as ‘classic’ its combination of power and finesse. Still very youthful at two years old, with an abundance of tannin and ripe black fruit wrapped around a mineral core. The influence of 40% new oak is pronounced but will diminish in due course. Decanting reveals subtle floral aromas – a hallmark of this wine, which Stéphane attributes to the vineyard’s tuffeau limestone soils, and 20% wholebunch fermentation. The finish is mouth-watering: long, fresh and distinctly saline. Although, impressive now, this will be best approached from 2019 onwards. 
Will Heslop, Wine Buyer

A wine that is concentrated black fruits in a glass, it is very spiced, dense, complex and long with discreet oak notes. The bouquet and the palate will continue to develop over the next 5-10 years.
www.veritewines.com

The fruit for this blend of 61% Cabernet Franc, 31% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec came from Chalk Hill (58%) and Alexander Valley (42%). Pierre Seillan believes the Chalk Hill fruit provides a truffle-like character and the Alexander Valley gives minerality, structure, tannin and intensity. The 2008 will be fascinating to taste next to the 2007 over the next 30+ years. Sweet mulberry, blueberry and blackberry fruit intermixed with notions of black truffles, damp earth and forest floor emerge from this beauty of stunning intensity, purity and texture. The alcohol is 14.4% and the relatively elevated pH is 3.76. 100 points.
Robert Parker

Tasting this was a revelatory experience: Burgundian thinking in the mould of Bordeaux. Beautifully strung together, it captures the essence of Merlot and Cabernet Franc. A scented nose of black rose petals greets you amidst aromas of muddled hedgerow fruit and lifted, spiced black cherries. Exuding fresh red plums and cherries, the palate is seamlessly balanced with very fine ripe tannins and a glorious velvety texture, bringing a mouthcoating richness and flavours of damson. There is lots of freshness here, with detailed, pure fruit shining throughout. A limestone acidity contributes to the precision and length of this pretty wine. It’s all about the fruit, but holds a fine backbone and structure which gradually builds towards the back of the palate. Wonderful to taste in its youth, this is a lot of wine for the money and guarantees enjoyment over the coming 10 to 12 years. I’ll certainly be picking up a case and would recommend drinking from 2020 to 2028+.



I simply love this wine. It doesn’t get one of my highest scores of the vintage, far from it, but it is so effortless and eminently drinkable that it is hard to put down. I can’t recall having a wine quite like it. Tertre Rôteboeuf had always been my reference point for “Burgundy-style” Bordeaux, but this has gone beyond even François Mitjavile’s impressive offerings. A blend of 75 to 80 percent Merlot and 20 to 25 percent Cabernet Franc (either he couldn’t remember the exact blend or I wasn’t listening properly), this has an easy feel, fresh with a distinctly Cabernet Franc, lifted nose, with notes of chocolate and menthol. There is a very fine grain to the tannins that sink into the pretty and gentle, fruit-filled core. There is a cooling quality to this wine, a natural ease to its demeanour. Very drinkable now, this will be an absolute delight in about five years – I can’t wait.
Peter Newton - Priva