BriO the 2nd wine of Cantenac Brown 2006 Rouge has been found in a west Midlands Lidl store for £17.99. Not a lot though.

The 2006 drinks quite well, the bouquet is wonderful Margaux, perfumed and quite heady, the wine is a little drier than expected from the nose though. A deep extracted colour, but not overly so. Nice vanilla oak, a modern claret in some respects. Long cork, so long firm pull is needed to ease. I'm not sure which way this wine is going ? I would not keep for too long.

No hoover bags here, and a jolly good effort for the 2006 vintage. The 2009 & 2010's CBs though, have spoilt my claret palate for ripe fruit expectation. Best on Day 2 and a healthy dark grouty sediment at the bottom, which is a good sign.

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Duncan

Sounds good Duncan. I remember seeing this in a Lidl store recently. Perhaps I'll give it a go

The vintage 2009 is £30 in M&S. '09 of course, a full & ripe and very approachable claret, so no complaints at the price.
It would be worth seeing if a 2008 was in Lidl.

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Duncan

M&S can a bit pricy in their clarets until they put them in offer. Like you say, you're probably paying a premium for the vintage
Majestic have 2007 BriO for £20 when you buy 2 (from £25) so the Lidl price is pretty good
The 2010 vintage is available for just under £20 at a retailer online but deliver is an £12 for 1-18 bottles

Great look-up Shez, thanks for doing some research.
At those acquisition prices for small purchases, I'd predict the 2010 to be, may well turn out to be the bargain in the end.

The Marks price reflects the 'en primeur' assessment, and you actually didn't need to be an eminent professional to work out from the cask tasting at 9 months in, that the 09's were going to be enjoyed so early, and then marked-up so high. the '10s followed in their footsteps.

The 2006 was a bit odd, because the grand vin was assessed as so & so and rather plain and simple early on in some quarters.

Cheers Shez

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Duncan

Just bought up a 2007 to drink this weekend, anyone tried this vintage recently ??

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He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.

I have some Chateau Le Boscq St Estephe 2007 that I last drank a month or so back
It is drinking well as expected for the early drinking vintage 2007 is but still seems to have the legs to last a few more years

Which wine Rich ??

No, sorry Rich, I bought no '07 grand vin clarets to speak of, I have a Sirene de Giscours as a pressie to try sometime. The BriO '07 was on tasting at Maj about a year ago. It was rather soft, nice flavour though, but a tad one dimensional. I think the BriO '06 is more interesting now, but then, as you say, what has transpired recently?

Château Lachesnaye '07 was on offer from Maj a while back, and was quite pleasant.

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Duncan

Dunc, hi its the Brio 07 might open tonight see how we get on. Bought mine from Costco £15.59 last summer.

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He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.

Brilliant price Rich, I have a feeling the '07 may be fuller on the palate straight out of the blocks than the '06. At £15.99 what's not to like. Gilbert & Gaillard are saying the 2007 grand vin 93/100 is so much more focused than the '06. Good luck.

Nice work Costco.

Because it's Vallentines, I've been considering something succulent that's "going to love me back" I'll check with my dear Misses before I decide.

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Duncan

Dunc, it was drinking well on saturday night decanted for a few hours.
Lovely nose , typical LB flavours only down side was the length i felt it disappeared too quickly on the palate.

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He who knows all the answers has not been asked all the questions.

Yes. Quite a lot of things that are right, including the very pretty label, heady nose, depth of colour and the mid palate hit is enticing, and then . . . in particular, the cab fruit runs away, so leaving a drier vanilla & black cherry skin 'merlotty ' abruptness.

This is the problem these days - you only get glimpses of the grand vin, except of course, the best vintages when the 2nd wine en primeur price is jacked-up before release.

For the '07, £15.99 though is fine, £20 is excessive.

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Duncan