Ch. Charreau

Château Charreau '03
Verdelais, Gironde, France
[Approx £6, Franglais, Calais, 75cl]

THIS JOYOUS, honeyed sweetie offers citrus on the nose, including grapefruit, with a concerted steel backbone, preceded by a sharp intial aroma of slightly unripe greengages and followed by the cleanliness and evocation of 'Pears' soap, but without the bitterness. My tasting companions also noted jellybeans, Savoy cabbage water, Tuber roses and the flesh of ripe white peaches. On the palate a heady mouthfeel echoes the meady quality, though this wine is not ultimately cloying. Canteloupe melon flavours develope within the very long aftertaste. To me this tastes £80-£95 per bottle and is a classy number. From a family run Chateau in Bordeaux and part of the 'Vigneron Independent' scheme, this is an astonishing find bearing some resemblance to de Bortoli's Noble One - this diamond is multi-faceted. Fruit rather than fungus prevails in this year.