Ducru-Beaucaillou’s Neighbor for a Song
Sometimes, when searching for great Petit Chateau Bordeaux, it’s not who knows you but who your neighbors are. So it is with the humble but profoundly serious Chateau du Glana in Saint-Julien, located on the Left Bank of Bordeaux. Their immediate neighbors read like a who’s-who of Bordeaux elite, yet even with all their heft, they have yet to convince the family at Du Glana to sell. Just who are these neighbors? How famous IS the terroir du Glana is planted to?
Well, the Château was built in 1870, and the first vines were planted on 5 hectares purchased from Château Saint-Pierre, a 4th Grand Cru Classé of Saint Julien. Unfortunately, as so often can happen with small estates, the estate languished in anonymity for decades until 1961, when it was purchased by Gabriel Meffre, who increased the vineyard area to 43 hectares with purchases of vineyards belonging to Château Lagrange. Lagrange is another classified estate of Saint Julien, this one a 3rd Grand Cru Classé.
But to put its location in true perspective, we must know the surrounding neighbors, as mentioned. This is where it gets serious! Surrounded by its neighbors Château Léoville Barton (2nd Grand Cru Classé), Château Gruaud Larose (2nd Grand Cru Classé), and Château Beychevelle (4th Grand Cru Classé), and lying just opposite Château Ducru-Beaucaillou (2nd Grand Cru Classé) on the other side of the D2, Château du Glana enjoys one of the most privileged locations in the Médoc, and since 1999, under the direction of Gabriel Meffre’s grandsons, Ludovic and Julien Meffre, the estate’s wines are counted as peers of the finest wines of Saint-Julien.
Easily worthy of – at a minimum – a classification of 4th Grand Cru Classé, this would place du Glana’s wines in line with Beychevelle (their neighbor), and an average price point (for 2010) of $150.
Now you understand my excitement in offering du Glana! So much history, such pedigreed neighbors, classifications all around, triple dollar wines as far as the eye can see.
Wine Enthusiast: Aromas of sun-warmed blackberries, Périgord truffles, sweet tobacco, and dark roasted chicory, alternating with black licorice, applewood smoke, and fading peonies, classic Left Bank nose. Generous and mouth filling, dense sweet core of black fruit and exotic spices infused with fine dusty tannins and layers of vibrant minerality. Drink 2020 – 2035.
2010 Chateau du Glana Saint Julien
MSRP: $45
Everyday low price: $37.98