Mini-Vertical of Château Batailley

This is a beautiful château in Pauillac that has long produced wines of breeding and finesse, and that has always offered some of the best value in the Médoc. Made mostly of cabernet sauvignon, the wines show a racy, fine tannin backbone with subtle fruit – very typical for the appellation.

In recent years, the Pauillac estate has been making outstanding wines rated 90 points or above by James. And its price averages a little more than $50 dollar a bottle, according to Wine-Searcher. Its most recent 2015 vintage just tasted by James during 2015 Bordeaux En Primeur shows “a new level of excellence,” writes James, and gives the wine “new definition here,” possibly even better than its superb 2010 vintage. The 2015 vintage will be showcased at the Bordeaux Confidential En Primeur event in Hong Kong on May 23. You can taste the wine yourself at the event.

Owned by the always-improving stable of estates of négociant Borie-Manoux, which includes such top names as Saint-Emilion’s Trotte Vieille and Pomerol’s Domaine de l’Eglise, the head and one of the owners of Borie-Manoux, Philippe Castéja, is determined to make better and better wines at Batailley and the rest of his estates. And they have been outstanding in recent vintages. A new second wine from the estate gave a boost in quality to the property with the 2015 vintage. This is one of the best value top-ranked wineries in Bordeaux.

Here we’ve selected five of Batailley’s recent vintages tasted by James over the past few years from the 2009 to 2013 vintages, so you can get a sense of its wine style and compare how the wines have evolved. Click on wine names for tasting notes and scores. 

Château Batailley Pauillac 2009

Château Batailley Pauillac 2010

Château Batailley Pauillac 2011

Château Batailley Pauillac 2012

Château Batailley Pauillac 2013