Through the generosity of friends on New Year’s Eve, we got to taste a rather grander Claret, Clos du Marquis.  Those of us who live in North Hampshire will immediately feel positively disposed to this wine as its name graces the very good French restaurant in the former pub on the Stockbridge road which all the locals still know as the Leckford Hut. Despite being named after – and of course stocking – the famous Claret, the restaurant specialises in the gloriously rich food of the South West.  But that’s another story.

Clos du Marquis is AC St Julien, so classic Left bank, Médoc.  It is a slightly unusual wine in that it is often described as the second wine of Ch. Léoville-Las-Cases.  However, it is not a second wine in the normal sense (ie made from younger vines or from fruit rejected for the grand vin).  Rather, in a more Burgundian way, the fruit comes from its own vineyard.  The 2000 which we drank more than showed that it can stand on its own feet: quite a dense nose of ripe fruit, strong hints of clove and toast and then a great seam of blackcurrant to plum fruit.  Its quality showed in the still deep ruby colour with hints of orange at the end and in the youthfulness of the fruit.  A few more years yet and it will settle down to a comfortable mid-life.  In 2003 Robert Parker noted that the 2000 could compete with many of the classed growths in this very good year.

The blend is around 70%Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, with small amounts of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.