2018 F. Thienpont Bordeaux 750 ml

In Bordeaux, the Thienpont name is synonymous with luxury.

They family owns Vieux Château Certan ($350+) in Pomerol, one of the few in the appellation to consistently challenge Petrus for wine of the vintage. Various branches of the family are also responsible for Le Pin ($4,000), Pavie Macquin ($125), and L’If ($200).

In other words, Thienpont is not a name you’d expect on the front of an under-$20 bottle.

But the 2018 F. Thienpont Bordeaux wears the family heritage on the label—and on the inside, it shows the family obsession with quality. Legendary enologist Stéphane Derenoncourt consults on this project, which is sourced from a who’s who of protected sources across Bordeaux. It over-delivers like almost no wine we’ve tried at this price.

François Thienpont occupies a unique place in one of the most heralded families in Bordeaux. While his brother and cousins manage the day-to-day winemaking and operation of the various famous châteaux, he’s the man in charge of marketing and selling those high-dollar wines. As a result, he’s got one of the best Rolodexes in the region, with 14 family properties and scores of fantastic sources close at hand. You can bet his contemporaries are eager to pick up the phone when he calls.

The 2018 vintage, which featured a hot summer that thickened the skins of grapes across all of Bordeaux, turned out to be fantastic for making value wines like this. Appellations and vineyards that normally aren’t known for concentration or power boasted darker colors and richer fruit than usual, and that is apparent in this finished wine.