Chateau L'eglise Bordeaux 2024

The Dieuxyssies family has run Chateau L'Eglise since 1880, farming 28 hectares of clay-limestone and sandy, silty soils. The 2024 is predominantly Merlot with a small share of Cabernet Franc, a vintage marked by vibrant fruit purity, moderate alcohol and freshness. Blackberry, ripe plum and black cherry sit under violet, cedar and baking spice, with graphite and tobacco leaf emerging as it opens; the palate layers blackcurrant and dark plum over supple tannins, finishing on dark berries and mineral freshness.

Four generations of the same family have made this wine, and the method has stayed simple. The fruit ferments in stainless steel tanks for 18 to 25 days. It then spends about six months in oak barrels, a third of them new. That short spell in wood is why the fruit sits in front and the oak stays in the background.

This is the Bordeaux the region drinks at home on a weeknight. It is ready now and does not ask for cellar time. The estate suggests serving it between 16 and 18 degrees, which in an Australian summer means twenty minutes in the fridge first.

Put it beside red meat or a cheese board, as the family suggests. A lamb shoulder, a steak off the barbecue or a wedge of hard cheese all suit it. Open it half an hour before dinner and pour.