2020 Château Anthonic, Moulis-En-Médoc, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
Deep and ripe cocoa-dusted dark fruit aromas with hints of dried orange peel and walnut. Vivid and juicy with a medium body and ripe, sleek tannins. Delicious and easy to drink. Flavourful finish. From organically grown grapes.
Drink or hold
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (May 2023)
Juicy and lively, sleek and silky tannins make way for juicy, softly sweet red berry and cherry fruit with a subtle creaminess which nicely offsets the high acidity giving roundness and expansiveness in the mouth. Bright, pure and clear with enjoyable fragrance on the palate and such lovely energy. Nicely chewy and bouncy but lean at the same time, the balance of texture, density and freshness really works and this is a great glass of wine. Youthful but this is great to open and enjoy today and carries to such a succulent, moreish finish still with liquorice, cola, wet stones and graphite touches bringing you back to the terroir.
Drink 2023 - 2038
Georgina Hindle, Decanter.com (October 2023)
An impressive Moulis, the 2020 Château Anthonic offers bright, clean red and blue fruits as well as notes of cedar, spice, and loamy earth. Medium-bodied on the palate, it’s all about charm and texture, even if there’s a chewiness in the tannins. It should drink nicely for 7-8 years.
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (June 2021)
About this WINE
Château Anthonic
Château Anthonic is a property in the Moulis-en-Médoc appellation on the Left Bank of Bordeaux, owned and run by Jean-Baptiste and Nathalie Cordonnier. The couple took over from Jean-Baptiste’s father, Pierre, in 1993.
The vineyard is planted to 62% Merlot, 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. Three-quarters of the soils are composed of clay-limestone, explaining the dominance of Merlot.
The Cordonniers work with consultant oenologist Eric Boissenot, who consults for many top estates including the Médoc’s four First Growths.
The wine here has been certified organic since 2019. Biodiversity is important here: the Cordonniers practice agroforestry, planting trees among the vines. Of the estate’s 37 hectares, the vineyard itself covers 28 hectares. The rest is a mixture of woodland and meadow. They use bats instead of chemical insecticides.
Jean-Baptiste and Nathalie founded the Vignerons du Vivant movement in 2018; their aim is to provide training and work opportunities to underprivileged young people in the local area. The emphasis of the movement is on organic farming.
Moulis
This is the smallest of the six Médoc communes but boasts a wide variety of soils and terroirs. Moulis is one of the two communal appellations located on the Atlantic side of the Médoc. It is positioned directly south of Listrac and even though it adjoins Margaux - the Médoc appellation with the highest number of Cru Classé châteaux - there are none here.
In the context of the Médoc, Moulis is hilly country, studded with a diversity of gravels, limestone and clay. These are sturdy wines, but the best are capable of considerable longevity and are often seductively perfumed. Generally they have more power than Margaux wines, albeit with less finesse and elegance.
Recommended Châteaux: Ch. Chasse-Spleen, Ch. Poujeaux, Ch. Maucaillou.
Merlot
The most widely planted grape in Bordeaux and a grape that has been on a relentless expansion drive throughout the world in the last decade. Merlot is adaptable to most soils and is relatively simple to cultivate. It is a vigorous naturally high yielding grape that requires savage pruning - over-cropped Merlot-based wines are dilute and bland. It is also vital to pick at optimum ripeness as Merlot can quickly lose its varietal characteristics if harvested overripe.
In St.Emilion and Pomerol it withstands the moist clay rich soils far better than Cabernet grapes, and at it best produces opulently rich, plummy clarets with succulent fruitcake-like nuances. Le Pin, Pétrus and Clinet are examples of hedonistically rich Merlot wines at their very best. It also plays a key supporting role in filling out the middle palate of the Cabernet-dominated wines of the Médoc and Graves.
Merlot is now grown in virtually all wine growing countries and is particularly successful in California, Chile and Northern Italy.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
This isn't all that expensive by Bordeaux standards, but at this price it counts as a treat wine and I really like it. It's gravelly, grainy and detailed with lovely blackcurrant fruit showing good structure
Jamie Goode, Affordable Bordeaux Wine, Sunday Express (November 2024)
Moulis-en-Médoc is home to several charming family-owned properties, Château Anthonic among them. Owners Jean-Baptiste and Nathalie Cordonnier are proponents of agroforestry, planting trees among their vines to encourage biodiversity. The 2020 vintage is their second with organic certification. This Merlot-dominant wine offers aromas of fresh plums, blackberries and dark chocolate, along with a nice spicy edge. It is medium-bodied and refreshing, though there is a good tannic structure; it should develop nicely in the coming years. Enjoy it with a juicy burger or barbecued dishes.
Charlie Geoghegan DipWSET, Berry Bros. & Rudd
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