2015 Château Venus Graves Bordeaux

Exclusive Opportunity for Bordeaux Brilliance

For me the 2015 Bordeaux from petit chateaux are the best value red wines in the world right now. A combination of a great vintage, lots of great work in the vineyards and cellars over the past few years and the inspiration of being surrounded by many of the world’s greatest wineries are a perfect storm for delivering ripe, dense, compelling, gorgeous wines. I first discovered this 2015 Château Venus in Bordeaux this past June. Having tasted hundreds of wines during that trip, this is the best $20 Graves Rouge I tasted in 2017. I purchased the entire US allocation of 168 cases. You might find the 2012 in the US for roughly $42 — but this extraordinary 2015 is only $17.99 and is only available on Wine Access.

Bertand Amart’s 2015 Château Venus Graves Rouge is a fleshy blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, with a creamy mid palate balancing fresh acidity and rich, chewy tannins, packed with cassis, dark plums, warm bricks, dried herbs, with dark chocolate and clove French oak.

The château itself is located in the tiny hamlet of Illats, southeast of Bordeaux. It’s named after the Roman goddess of plowing — the same goddess we usually associate with finesse, elegance, and beauty. Bertrand’s intense work with the chateau’s 18.5-acre vineyard brings her to life. He is a minimalist, prefering to let the grapes do the work while he simply ushers the fruit from each stage of production to bottling. The result is a wine with pure fruit flavors, kissed by new French oak, with the structural complexity only possible from the gravel-rich terroir of Graves.

The 2015 Château Venus scored an impressive 17-18 out of 20 from La Revue du vin de France, the publication Jancis Robinson MW described as “France’s only serious wine magazine.” Their score on this Petit Château is completely justified. This is a great value for any red wine lover, one featuring fantastic balance of current drinkability, with the ability to improve through to 2022 and keep through to 2025.

Matt Deller MW
Master of Wine
Chief Wine Officer, Wine Access

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 13.00%
• 15 mins
• Drink Up
• 70% Merlot30% Cabernet Sauvignon
• Serving temperature – 60°
• Cork