2006 Château Coutelin-Merville, Saint-Estèphe

Today’s discovery might be familiar to long-time SommSelect subscribers, but since it’s been a few years allow me to (re) introduce you to the amazing value of the 2006 Château Coutelin-Merville. This now 18-year-old showpiece boasts muscular layers of dark, deep fruit, gravelly savor, and the truly indelible secondary flavors of mature Saint-Estèphe. A sensory experience such as this cannot be replicated: Only from this terroir, and a château generations-deep in the intricacies of Merlot and Cabernet, can a Bordeaux of this magnitude be created—although it’s helpful when some of your vines are flirting with Second Growths Montrose and Cos d’Estournel, too! As if all this wasn’t already enticing enough, the provenance on today’s parcel is impeccable: cellared on site for 15 years, then a straight, temperature-controlled shot to our supplier’s warehouse. Now that’s how you make $40 stretch!  In 1932, Bordeaux wine merchants came together with the backing of their local Chambers of Comme