Larose-Trintaudon reassessed

Mention Ch Larose-Trintaudon to one of Bordeaux's 'aristocracy of the cork' and they look decidedly supercilious. For years this cru bourgeois was famous only for being the biggest château in the Médoc. With 215 ha of vineyards, Larose-Trintaudon is bigger than any French wine château other than André Lurton's Ch Bonnet, producer of wines of all hues in the Entre-Deux-Mers.

Its size means that it was one of the first Médoc properties to have used mechanical harvesters, plainly visible from the busy road to Pauillac that leads from the main highway up the Médoc. This and the fact that for...