1999 Lynch Bages
This is a classic big wine from one of the premier estates on the left bank of Bordeaux. While 1999 was not the strongest vintage to come out of Bordeaux in the last twenty years, it is nonetheless a solid vintage with wines that are ready to drink now.
This wine is absolutely stunning. It is a huge, complex wine that lingers on your pallet with flavors of black cherry, plum and soft terroir. It is pricy but worth it.

2000 Chateau Duhart-Milon

2000 & 2001 Ch. D’Armailhac

Since returning from my most recent trip to France, I have been enjoying several of the wines I selected for B&B’s French Wine Club which are fantastic. It is still not too late to get in on this year’s selections. You can visit our new web site for all the details at www.bandbsfrenchwineclub.com .

I have, however, also tasted a few wines that are available in North America that I want to recommend this month.

I am always amazed when I taste an old wine and it has developed into something almost magical. Three of the wines I recommend this month fit into that category. I don’t get to taste these wines very often, so I am grateful to my friend Bill Vandermarel for reaching into his cellar for me to enjoy these wines.

I spent eight days in France in March looking for wines for B&B’s French Wine Club. We tasted some amazing wines and were able to find some great ones for the club. You can read about it all on my blog of the trip at:

French Wine Club Blog

This month I have six great wines to recommend.

The first is a beautiful light and fruity 2004 Beaujolais Villages from Louis Jadot for $10. I find most of the Jadot selections rather plain and ordinary but this Beaujolais has nice light spice and is quite interesting, particularly for the price. Enjoy it with pasta or easy sipping on the patio as spring approaches.

This month I recommend five wines from or near Bordeaux in different price ranges and different vintages.

The holidays are always a time of enjoying great wines and this year was no exception. I’ve selected eight wines to recommend - all of which I tasted in the last month. I hope you have a chance to try some of them and enjoy them as much as I have.

As much as I love Bordeaux, I have also enjoyed some excellent Chateauneuf-Du-Papes’ and I will be headed back to France this spring to do some more research on this region.