How to Pick Great Value Bordeaux for Under $100
You don’t have to spend $400 to drink like a king. While the “Big Chateaus” want you to believe that world-class Bordeaux starts at the price of a car payment, the truth is you can find truly legendary bottles for $70 to $85—if you know where to look. Today, I’m putting two “steals” from the 2022 vintage to the test: Clos du Marquis and Chateau Branaire-Ducru.
The Secret is in the AOC: St. Julien
If you want the best bang-for-your-buck on the Left Bank, head straight for St. Julien. Here is why:
No “First Growth” Tax: Unlike Pauillac or Margaux, St. Julien has no “First Growth” estates. Without a $1,000-per-bottle neighbor driving up the local prices, the producers here have to let the quality of the wine do the talking.
Unrivaled Consistency: These wines are famous for balance, elegance, and “typicity.” In plain English: I’ve never had a bad St. Julien. It’s the safest bet in the wine shop.
Why Bordeaux is So Frustrating
Most people give up on Bordeaux because the labels are totally, deliberately confusing.
The “No-Grapes” Rule: They won’t tell you if it’s Cabernet or Merlot on the label.
The Snob Factor: The elite estates expect you to pay $200+ just for a picture of a castle and a bunch of French words you can’t decode.
In this video, I’m stripping away the snobbery. I’ll show you the three secrets to decoding these labels so you can walk into any wine shop and pick a winner every single time. Plus, we’re doing a Whole Bottle Review—because a “snort, taste, and spit” doesn’t tell you how a wine actually feels by the third glass.
🎥 Video Chapters
0:00 The $100 Challenge: Best Value Bordeaux
1:45 Why St. Julien is the “Value King” of the Left Bank
4:08 Decoding the Frustration: How to read Bordeaux labels
6:09 Temperature Matters: Stop drinking your reds at 72°F
9:24 The Contenders: Clos du Marquis vs. Branaire-Ducru 2022
18:14 The “Wine Fight”: Live Tasting & Initial Scores
25:16 The Final Verdict: Whole Bottle Review Results
The John Alanis Magical Wine Whole Bottle Review Scale
100 Perfection, find a bottle once every 5 years, indescribably Magical, never forget it, impossible to convey in mere words.
99 Almost perfect, find a bottle every one to two years, Magical, makes you feel emotions/feelings you’ve never felt before, takes you forward and back in time, swirling memories
98 Magical wine, find a bottle two to three times a year, takes you places, evokes emotions, and brings ups old memories
97- Almost Magical, hints at places and memories, evokes emotion, but not quite magical. Fantastic evolution of the wine, finishes at a different place than where it started, flavors outshine emotions.
96- Fantastic flavor experience, bottle evolves and changes, evokes some emotion, but experience is all about the wine. We want this to be our “floor” every time we drink a bottle, but we must choose a bottle with the potential to meet these expectations.
95 Great flavor, mouthfeel, some evolution and change, focus is completely on the wine, doesn’t evoke emotion.
94 and below- enjoyable bottle of wine, goes great with food and friends, first sip and last sip are pretty much identical. Doesn’t evoked any emotion or trigger any memories, but was thoroughly enjoyable from a taste experience. Good to drink when you just want a glass
10 Comments
Branaire-Ducru has been my favorite 2022 so far followed by Beychevelle
Great video!!
Thanks for the vid, haven't really tried both but will check them out. Ch Saint-Pierre is really the only St Julien I have been drinking due to its great value, I just wished they didn't change their label, now it looks like a $15 bottle. Cantermerle is my value pick for the classified growths and Chateau Siran, Meyney, and Labegorce for non-classified left banks that does not break the bank.
Have you tried the Trader Joe’s 2023 St. Julian Platinum Reserve? I have truly enjoyed it and would love to hear your thoughts.
John, you’re great but you gotta get your teleprompter closer to your camera. The eye gaze way top left is off putting.
Mouton went in ‘73, not ‘76 and Chateau Cantamerle came in one yr later in 1856.
Interesting review. Especially interesting since we're going to do a similar tasting later this week with 2022 Saint Juliens. Clos De Marquis, Saint Pierre, Beychevelle, Lagrange and Gloria. Will keep some of your comments and notes here in mind when reviewing them 🙂
Awesome comparison. Many items here were spot on about my experience with Bordeaux. It is somewhat frustrating to buy something at a high price NOT knowing if they will turn out to be great. To add to that, having to wait 5-10y or 15y even to then 'check' if they are good is even more troublesome. The best advice i can share is what you did, which was to drink a bottle however young and decide if that's something that deserves to be in the cellar or not. I do recommend going to tasting events and actually taste the wine before buying. Thanks for the video, I am excited to see more coming down the pipeline. I tasted some Pomerols and Right Bank wines from 2022 and they were really great.
I have 2015 Branaire Ducru and it's drinking beautifully now. I also have the 2020, but haven't tried it yet. I generally find Bordeaux needs 10yrs before I can enjoy it, or more. I bought the 2015 on WineBid which is a nice way of getting aged wines that I can drink while I wait for my younger ones to mature. Great video — Branaire Ducru has finess, is one of my favorites, and is very well priced for the high quality. It's a 4th growth that drinks like a 2nd…
Another great video with lots of useful information 🎯🍷🎯🍷