1st up was a Chinon: Charles Jouget's Les Varennes du Grand Clos. It was 100% Cabernet Franc. Had a pleasant stawbery-ish nose with meaty, dry finish. The label advised serving lightly chilled and the combination of the taste and the temperature reminded me a of some of the more weighty of the cru Beaujolais. It was a really interesting wine. New flavours and a new area to think about. However, it £15 a go (Majestic) is it worth it? Not sure.
Keeping with the cru Beaujolais theme, the send wine of note was Chatuea Thivin from Cote de Brouilly. This has an outstandingly fruity nose and initial flavour: violets, raspberries galore. The finish shows a real weightiness that I have not experienced from a Beaujolais before. I could drink this wine all day. A real find. At £11 a go this is a contended for the best wine I've had all year.
Last and certainly the most memorable was a 2000 Chateau Haut-Bages Averous from Pulliac. Apparently it is the second wine of Lynch-Bages which commands absurdly high prices. After reading about wines from this part of the Medoc, it seems that St Jullien (and to a lesser extent neighbouring Pulliac) produces wines in a style favoured by the UK market's desire for a certain type of claret that tastes 'as claret should'. This style is further described as having 'pencil shaving, cedary nose with deep complex fruit'. If so then I guess I'm in line with this particular UK preference. It was an outstanding wine and one I shall not forget in a hurry. I won't be able to do it justice here but it cretainly had the aforementioned characteristics in abundance. I think Beccy bought me this and I suspect it cost the best part of £40. It can be bought in bond at £15/bottle (wineandco.com) which would probably work out at more like £20 after VAT, duty and delivery. Still worth it for me? I think it probably is. Still, January is no the time for major outlays. Perhaps Cleon could be persuaded to go halves on a case...... 
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