1999 Closerie du Pelan, Francs-Côte-de-Bordeaux

Sometimes all you need to introduce a wine are the cold hard facts: 25 year old, Cabernet dominant Bordeaux that was stored in the same cold cellar where it was born for two decades before making its way to the U.S. Oh, and it somehow costs less than $60! Boom, enough said right? But of course there’s much more to the story, including biodynamic farming, very old school winemaking of the type that is vanishingly rare in Bordeaux, and a long standing friendship between neighbors. It’s the kind of feel good yarn that you may occasionally stumble upon in obscure, under the radar regions, but to find one just a few miles from some of the most expensive vineyards on the planet is exceedingly rare. So please read on for the fascinating back story, but if I had you at “1999 vintage for less than $60” feel free to skip right to the end and start loading up your cart! Closerie du Pelan is a unique property situated in what most experts would consider an “outer-borough” location: the eastern edg