Clos Lunelles, Côtes de Castillon

When a big-name wine family makes a foray into a lesser-known region, it pays—usually handsomely—to take notice. I’m thinking, for example, of the Lafon family in Burgundy venturing south of their base in Meursault into the less-expensive precincts of the Mâcon—and the exceptional value-for-dollar those Mâcon wines deliver. Today’s wine is the product of a similarly prestigious flag-planting in a lesser-known region, in this case the Côtes de Castillon appellation on Bordeaux’s right bank.The best sites in the Côtes de Castillon occupy the same clay/limestone plateau as some of the greatest properties in neighboring Saint-Émilion, yet, given French wine’s hierarchical leanings, Côtes de Castillon remains an ‘outer-borough’ designation in terms of recognition and price. It has become one of our most reliable sources of over-achieving wines, as exemplified by this stellar 2002 bottling from Clos Lunelles—part of an impressive portfolio of Bordeaux properties (including the famed Château