Château La Citadelle Bordeaux Supérieur 2000, La Sirène de Giscours Margaux 2001.
Château La Citadelle Bordeaux Supérieur 2000. Who needs swank and stratospheric pricing? If you're looking for a red Bordeaux that is easy on both the pocket and the palate, try this. Lightish in style, it has classic blackcurrant overtones and juicy, savoury appeal, with not a hint of the austerity that can make claret forbidding. From Cabot & Co, IFSC, Dublin; On the Grapevine, Booterstown and Dalkey, Dublin; Listons, Camden Street, Dublin; Grape Escape, Lucan, Dublin; Murtaghs, Enniskerry, Co Wicklow; Cana, Mullingar, Co Westmeath; Pettitts in south-east; and others, €12.95-€13.50
La Sirène de Giscours Margaux 2001. Now for a more serious treat, a second label from the well-known Margaux third growth Château Giscours, in a vintage considered by the property as a textbook year. This is a rich, meaty, leather-and-liquorice-scented Bordeaux with lovely concentration and mineral complexity, all wrapped together in the velvet and cashmere overcoat that is so typical of Margaux. There's enough body and spicy intensity to make this a winner with roast beef as well as lamb. From O'Briens, €22.95