Baron de Beaulac Bordeaux Superieur

Wine: Baron de Beaulac Bordeaux Superieur.

Grapes: Cabernet sauvignon (50 percent), merlot (40 percent), cabernet franc (10 percent)

Region: Bordeaux, France

Vintage: 2003

Price: $8.99

In the glass: Baron de Beaulac is a semi-opaque crimson-red color with a dense core going out into a saturated garnet-red rim definition with medium-high viscosity.

On the nose: There is lovely concentrated crushed blackberry, creme de cassis, sweetish hints of black cherries, herbs de Provence, spice box, tobacco and earthy mineral components with no hints of oak, because it is fermented and aged entirely in stainless steel.

On the palate: This medium-bodied wine appears wonderfully rich and supple with loads of black fruit components, black currant sorbet, cran-raspberry juice and great underlying concentration and structure. The midpalate is chewy and mineral-rich with more black currant fruit, and the finish lingers for quite some time with unobtrusive and softly rounded tannins. This is a great-drinking wine from a highly regarded vintage from Bordeaux.

Odds and ends: Baron de Beaulac (“beautiful lake”) probably is one of the last Bordeaux wines from the 2003 vintage available for less than $10. It shows how good the 2003 vintage was in Bordeaux. While it is not a major Grand Cru wine, it illustrates that good winemaking is possible only when mother nature provides all the right elements for such an endeavor. The 2003 vintage in Bordeaux experienced a range of highs and lows: If there was sufficient management in the vineyard during the record hot summer months, then the vines would be properly pruned to withstand the intense heat and the grapes wouldn’t roast or shrivel up into raisins. Baron de Beaulac has the characteristics of a wine made from well-situated vineyards. It is delicious and fully mature now. This is what all Bordeaux wines were made to be: food wines. Try it with roast rack of lamb and some truffle mashed potatoes. Drink it now through 2012.

Gil Lempert-Schwarz’s wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89106-0749, or email him at gil@winevegas.com.