Great Wine? Small Price?

Skouras Megas Oenos 2019, tasted blind against five of the region's best-value Bordeaux. Who wins?

There are wines you drink more out of respect for their history than out of sheer enthusiasm. Skouras Megas Oenos has long belonged in that category for me. For years it served as something of an unofficial ambassador for Greek wine – proof that Greece could produce serious, internationally competitive reds, not just retsina. The story is well known and often told: George Skouras, trained in Dijon, brought Burgundian know-how to the Peloponnese and created a blend of Agiorgitiko and Cabernet Sauvignon that turned heads around the world in the 1990s. Suddenly the wine world was talking about Nemea, about Greek reds, about potential.

And the price? Above all, the price reflects that story. Megas Oenos retails at around €26–28 – a figure I've always found a bit steep given the actual drinking experience. I tend to order it when I'm dining out and the list is short on good alternatives. A big fan? Truth be told, not really.

But that's precisely why it was time for an honest test. Not on its own, but in context – blind, against wines competing in the same price bracket.

The Setup: Six Wines, One Vintage, No Labels

The idea was simple: if Megas Oenos 2019 is going to stake its claim in the €20–40 bracket, it has to hold its own against wines that are exciting and ambitious at that very price point. Pitting a Greek wine against overpriced bottles from premium appellations would hardly be a fair test. So we deliberately went for five Bordeaux from the outstanding 2019 vintage – wines with a reputation for delivering the best value the region has to offer: a 5ème Cru Classé, a Cru Bourgeois Supérieur, and three estates that have earned their reputation outside the shadow of the big names.

The contenders:

• Château Meyney 2019 (Saint-Estèphe) – one of the appellation's oldest estates, historic Cru Bourgeois, situated between Montrose and Calon-Ségur

• Château Carmenère 2019 (Médoc) – a micro-estate putting the near-forgotten Carmenère grape back in the spotlight; Coup de Cœur in the Guide Hachette

• Clos Manou 2019 (Médoc) – Stéphane Dief's legendary garage-wine project, started in 1998 with 600 bottles, now a cult name in the northern Médoc

• Château Belgrave 2019 (Haut-Médoc, 5ème Cru Classé) – a classed growth right on the Saint-Julien border, long under the radar, but sharply on the rise in quality of late

• Château Doyac 2019 (Haut-Médoc, Cru Bourgeois Supérieur) – biodynamic (Demeter), Merlot-driven, on pure limestone; one of Lobenberg's "three musketeers" of the Médoc

• Skouras Megas Oenos 2019 (PGI Peloponnese) – the Greek challenger

The tasters had a list of the wines in front of them but did not know which glass held which wine. The tasting actually took place back in 2025 – my apologies for the delayed write-up. But perhaps there's an upside: with the benefit of hindsight, our impressions can now be put to the test. Have our predictions held up? All the Bordeaux wines are available from Lobenberg.

The Story of Megas Oenos

To understand why this wine commands the price it does, you have to go back to the mid-1980s. George Skouras studied oenology in Dijon – the heart of Burgundy, that is – not exactly the most obvious training ground for someone looking to make Greek wine. In 1986 he founded his *domaine* in the Peloponnese with what was, at the time, a bold idea: blending the indigenous Agiorgitiko grape from the high-altitude vineyards of Nemea with Cabernet Sauvignon and ageing the wine in French oak barriques. Megas Oenos – "the great wine" – began as an experiment sometime in the mid-1980s; the first commercial bottling is dated to either 1986 or 1988, depending on the source.

What followed was something of a revolution. At a time when Greek wine barely existed on the international stage, Megas Oenos suddenly appeared on the radar of critics and importers. Serious, age-worthy red wine with a character all its own – from Greece. Jamie Goode describes the wine as almost "Super Tuscan" in feel – and the comparison is apt: like the Super Tuscans in Italy, Megas Oenos was a wine that deliberately stepped outside the local appellation system to create something stylistically new. Because PDO Nemea is reserved for single-varietal Agiorgitiko, the wine carries the PGI Peloponnese designation to this day.

Since then, Megas Oenos has remained something of a calling card: the wine people reach for when they want to make the case that Greece produces serious reds. That's also its problem – or at least my problem with it. The reputation, the pioneer status, the history: all of it is baked into the price. The question that interests me is a different one: what's actually in the glass?

The Tasting

What the blends of the first four Bordeaux have in common: they are all Cabernet-dominant – ranging from 62% Cabernet Sauvignon in the Belgrave, via 60% in the Carmenère and 57% in the Meyney, to 47% (on a par with Merlot) in the Clos Manou. And indeed, in the blind tasting these four were immediately identifiable as a subgroup of their own. That is why we discuss them here first as a group of their own, in ascending order of score.

Wine 1: Château Meyney 2019 (Saint-Estèphe)

Meyney is an estate of real historic pedigree: the vineyard appears in the Gironde archives as early as 1276, and the estate was founded in 1625. Today the estate comprises 51 hectares in a single block, wedged between Montrose and Calon-Ségur – a situation of which many a Cru Classé can only dream. The soils: a naturally free-draining gravel croupe over a deep clay-limestone base, veined with a distinctive seam of blue clay. Since 2004 Meyney has belonged to the CA Grands Crus group; organic conversion has been underway since 2021.

The classification deserves a moment of precision. Meyney appeared on the 1932 Cru Bourgeois list and was listed as Cru Bourgeois Supérieur in 2003. In the current official classifications (2020 and 2025), however, the estate does not appear – according to Lobenberg, Meyney more or less declined to re-enter, in protest at the new selection process. "Cru Bourgeois" is, in Meyney's case, historical shorthand rather than a current title – which does nothing to diminish the fact that the terroir is among the finest of any unclassified estate in Saint-Estèphe.

The 2019 is 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot and 16% Petit Verdot – an unusually high proportion of Petit Verdot, but one with deep roots at Meyney: the variety was introduced in the 1920s by Désiré Cordier and has been part of the estate's DNA ever since. Harvested from 24 September to 11 October, vinified parcel by parcel after rigorous selection, aged in French oak, 35% new. The critics' verdict is impressive at this price point: Neal Martin awarded it 95 points from bottle, Suckling 94, Anson 93, Galloni and Dunnuck 92. Heiner Lobenberg himself has hailed Meyney as a "rising star" ever since 2016 and the 2019 a "knockout value" – he lists it at around €29 a bottle.

In colour, the Meyney was the first to stand out: fewer violet hues than the others, leaning more toward mature garnet. On the nose, plenty of raspberry – brighter and more fruit-forward than one might expect from a Cabernet-dominated Saint-Estèphe. On the palate, pronounced marzipan comes through, lending the wine a subtly sweet, supple dimension. The finish is on the shallow side; some chocolate does emerge, and it is decidedly delicate. The overall impression: very round, very agreeable – but not particularly exciting. A wine that lacks tension. 91 points.

Wine 2: Château Carmenère 2019 (Médoc)

This wine's story begins with a nearly forgotten grape. Carmenère was once a mainstay of the Médoc but virtually disappeared after phylloxera – today it accounts for just 0.1% of red Bordeaux plantings. Richard Barraud has deliberately built his small estate in Queyrac in the northern Médoc around this variety: just some 3.5 hectares, established in the mid-2000s, planted at a density of 8,000 vines per hectare. This is no hobbyist's venture, as his credentials make clear: by profession, Barraud is vineyard manager at Château Haut-Batailley in Pauillac, and his consultant is Eric Boissenot – the oenologist who also consults for all the Médoc's Premiers Crus. The optical sorter in the cellar came second-hand from Ducru-Beaucaillou. Lobenberg calls him "an extremist in the same vein as Stéphane Dief of Clos Manou."

The 2019 Grand Vin is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot and 16% Carmenère at 13.5% alcohol – the harvest did not take place until early October. The wine is spontaneously fermented in concrete, then aged for 24 months in French oak. Critical opinion is divided: Guide Hachette gives it two stars and a Coup de Cœur; Parker/Wine Advocate and TerroirSense land at 89 points. Merchants, by contrast, are far more enthusiastic: Lobenberg awards 97 points and compares it to Ridge Monte Bello, and Gerstl gives it 19+/20. At roughly €21, the wine offers remarkable value for money given the élevage and the ambition behind it.

The Carmenère pours almost purple – visually, a statement in itself. On the nose, a whiff of barnyard and animal notes at first, leather, smoke; one taster asked whether a Syrah had stowed away in the blend. The palate shows blackcurrant — redcurrant, too. At first the wine needs a moment to blow off some funk, but over the course of the tasting it shows increasing complexity and develops an intriguing sweetness of fruit. Genuinely intriguing – but still a little out of balance. Above all, it's not clear where this wine is heading: plenty of potential, but also plenty left unresolved. For now, 92 points, without the plus.

Wine 3: Clos Manou 2019 (Médoc)

If there is one estate in the northern Médoc that proves that terroir and hard work matter more than classification and postcode, it's Clos Manou. Françoise and Stéphane Dief started out in 1998 in a garage with just 600 bottles. Today they farm 18 hectares in Saint-Christoly de Médoc and Couquèques – still tiny by Bordeaux standards, but the leap in quality has been enormous. Planting density stands at 9,000 to 10,000 vines per hectare, yields are capped at 500 grams per vine. Only about half the crop makes it into the Grand Vin. The estate also includes a historic parcel of Merlot planted in the 1850s that survived phylloxera.

The soils form an unusually varied mosaic for the northern Médoc: gravelly clay, Couquèques limestone, sand, and combinations of the three. In the cellar, the approach is ambitious: 70% new French barriques for 17 months, plus 25% concrete eggs and 5% terracotta amphorae, malolactic fermentation carried out by co-inoculation, weekly bâtonnage using Oxoline rolling racks. Since 2018, Clos Manou has sealed its entire production with Ardeaseal technical corks.

The 2019's final blend is split in exact parity between Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot: 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 47% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc. 14.5% ABV, pH 3.54. The harvest ran from 23 September to 14 October. Critical opinion is tightly clustered in the 92–94 band: Kelley/WA 92+, Martin 92, Suckling 92, Dunnuck 92, Beck 94, RVF 94, Hachette two stars plus a Coup de Cœur. Lobenberg goes well beyond the consensus with 97–100 points and likens its quality to that of Pauillac: "If this were not Médoc but Pauillac, its wines would consistently sit in the €100 bracket alongside Pontet-Canet." At Lobenberg, the bottle retails for around €27.

On the nose, the Clos Manou is surprisingly restrained at first – especially compared to the other wines in the lineup. On the palate it lays it on pretty thick structurally, though with a fair amount of fruit to back it up. The blend here is an exact even split (47% each of Cabernet and Merlot, with only tiny splashes of Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc), and yet distinctly varietal cassis notes come through. Plenty of blackberry too – though in a very jammy register, which is something of an acquired taste, particularly combined with the lazy, brooding nose. The finish constantly seems poised to spring but never quite gets out of the blocks; it hasn't yet caught up with the other wines in this regard. It's bogged down in earthy notes, the tannin still holding it back. 92+ points, with clear upside. It can be broached gently from this year, but you're better off holding until 2027.

Wine 4: Château Belgrave 2019 (Haut-Médoc, 5ème Cru Classé)

The only 1855 classed growth in our lineup – and, for years, the most under-the-radar of the bunch. Belgrave sits in Saint-Laurent-Médoc right on the border with Saint-Julien, next door to Château Lagrange. The terroir – two gravel ridges over clay subsoil at 23 and 26 metres above sea level – is, according to Lobenberg, "identical to Lagrange"; indeed, he calls Belgrave "actually the better Saint-Julien." Since Dourthe took over in 1979 and began investing heavily in the vineyards (now 10,000 vines per hectare, yields of under 500 grams per vine), the estate has come on enormously in quality.

The 2019 is a blend of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot at 14% ABV. Hand-picked into small crates, optically sorted, spontaneous fermentation, 32% new oak. Consulting oenologist: Eric Boissenot. Critics' scores: Wine Enthusiast 94, Suckling 93, Falstaff 93, Weinwisser 18.5/20, Parker's Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator both at 90. Lobenberg gives it 97 points and describes the wine as "an orgy of aromas" and a "deeply concentrated Saint-Julien" that reminds him of warm vintages of Léoville-Poyferré. Millésima lists it at around €39.

The Belgrave stands out immediately for its markedly different aromatic profile. The speculoos spice on the nose is, if anything, where it comes closest to the Doyac – which we'll come to shortly; its role as a connecting link initially set the Belgrave somewhat apart from the other wines and had us questioning our groupings. On top of that, generous plum. Plus a faint whiff of sulphur. On the palate, though, very delicate, dusty tannins emerge. This is unmistakably ambitious Cabernet with well-judged oak. The finish is long and hints at the aromatics this wine has yet to develop. 93+ points with clear potential for further development.

That covers the four Cabernet-dominant Bordeaux wines.

Wine 5: Château Doyac 2019 (Haut-Médoc, Cru Bourgeois Supérieur)

And then there were the two wines that, in the blind tasting, were immediately the odd ones out in the Cabernet-heavy flight of four.

Doyac is a family estate in Saint-Seurin-de-Cadourne, directly bordering Saint-Estèphe to the north. Max de Pourtalès – a former banker – bought the property in 1998, his wife Astrid joined the venture, and their daughter Clémence came on board in 2016 as a qualified oenologist. The philosophy is simple: fine, elegant Bordeaux wines, no over-extraction. Two things really set Doyac apart: first, the terroir – pure limestone with only a thin layer of clay, which explains the unusually high proportion of Merlot. And second, the biodynamic approach: 2019 was the estate's first Demeter-certified vintage.

Eric Boissenot and Marco Balsimelli also consult for Doyac – the same oenologists who work with Clos Manou and Château Carmenère. Lobenberg calls these three the "three musketeers" of the Médoc and Haut-Médoc: all under Boissenot's wing, all rivalling classified growths in quality, yet strikingly different in style.

The 2019 is 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon at 14.5% alcohol. Fermented with indigenous yeasts, 15 days at 26°C in stainless steel, 12 months' ageing with 25% new oak. 100,000 bottles, 80% of which go into the Grand Vin. Critic scores: Suckling 93, Beck 93, Terre de Vins 94–95, Vinous 92, Hachette two stars. Lobenberg rates it at 97: "This 2019 sits a notch above even the brilliant 2018." Gerstl gives it 19/20. At roughly €19–23, this is almost absurdly good value for a biodynamic Haut-Médoc with this kind of critical acclaim.

"That's not the Greek one" – that much was immediately clear. At the same time, the Doyac stood out clearly from the Cabernet-dominated wines. Of all six wines it was the easiest to identify in the blind tasting. The nose is intense but dark, not light – lots of gingerbread spice, and honestly a touch of sulphur – whether that's a flaw or a feature is debatable. On the palate, blackberry – but in jelly form: far more elegant than in the Clos Manou. Herbs, too. Tannins and acidity form a solid structure that is already approachable. The finish delivers plenty of iodine and black tea. A seriously impressive wine that deserves 94 points. One hesitates a little to put that in writing – after all, at roughly €22 it's by far the cheapest of the lot.

And yes, we are fans of the Right Bank, though, truth be told, very demanding there. Here, at any rate, we have something from the Left Bank that can hold its own against a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru Classé. Perhaps the Doyac also benefited a little from the comparison with the still somewhat angular Cabernets? The last wine, however, argues against that theory – it saw arguably the most heavy-handed oak treatment of the entire lineup, and yet showed very well:

Wine 6: Skouras Megas Oenos 2019 (PGI Peloponnese)

I know, I know – finishing with a Greek wine on top, on a Greek wine blog, of all places – it looks like the fix is in. Which is exactly why I would have preferred a different result, if only for the sake of credibility. But there's nothing I can do about it. And honestly, I really didn't see it coming.

For context: the 2019 Megas Oenos is somewhat polarising among critics. The Wine Advocate awarded it 92 points but noted that the oak was still very present in its youth and that the wine wouldn't truly come into its own until 2025–2027. Wine Enthusiast came in at a more modest 89 points. Jamie Goode, by contrast, gave it 93 points, seeing a lively, classic, ageworthy wine with an almost Super Tuscan feel. The 2020, which I also tasted recently, enjoys a somewhat more unified critical consensus – Wine Advocate 93, Gold and Best Red Wine at the Thessaloniki Wine & Spirits Trophy 2024 – and comes across as more complete and harmonious overall. The 2019 is the more austere, less charming, but ultimately more compelling interpretation. Our impression was much the same.

80% Agiorgitiko, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14.5% alcohol, 18 months in new French barriques, 4 months sur lie, Agiorgitiko vines up to 70 years old at an elevation of 700 metres in Gimno – the technical details are familiar. The 2019 retails for around €26–28 in Germany; Lobenberg does not carry it.

In the glass, with its pale colour, the Megas Oenos looks surprisingly thin at first next to the Bordeaux, which range from deep violet to near-black – the alcohol comes in at 14.5%, on a par with Clos Manou and Doyac, nor does it give itself away with more pronounced legs. But this wine is anything but flat.

Vanilla dominates the nose. That's not for everyone – and it is unquestionably the most heavy-handed oak treatment in the entire flight. On the palate, however, the wine wins you over with very delicate, varied berry flavors, and because the oak shows more range here than on the nose: not just vanilla, but a whole spectrum – caramel, toast, spice. On the finish, flashes of sweetness, bitterness and a peppery bite play off each other in a genuinely moreish way. A wine that admittedly walks a tightrope – but the gamble pays off: it dares something rather than getting stuck in the kind of inoffensive mediocrity I've encountered in past vintages. 94 points.

The Result

The ranking at a glance:

That the Megas Oenos and the Doyac tied for the top spot was the biggest surprise of the evening. The two wines that stood apart from the Cabernet-heavy quartet proved the strongest in the end: a biodynamic, Merlot-led Haut-Médoc at €22 and a Greek Agiorgitiko-Cabernet blend at €27.

What Stays

Three takeaways from the evening:

First: Megas Oenos has earned its price tag. I say this as someone who was sceptical for years. Up against five ambitious Bordeaux expressly chosen as value-for-money picks, Megas Oenos 2019 won. The vanilla-driven nose is a bold move, the balance of sweetness, bitterness and heat on the finish is on a knife-edge – and yet the wine holds together. The 2019 is certainly not the most crowd-pleasing Megas Oenos ever made. But one of the most exciting.

Second: honesty about ageing potential. The "plus" on the Clos Manou (92+) deserves an explanation, especially on a blog devoted to Greek wines. The ageing potential of good Bordeaux is something you have to respect. For a direct comparison, the wine that comes to mind is Ktima Biblia Chora's 2019 estate red, which was available for under €20 – though its much earlier release means that, a few years on from the harvest, it can no longer be found in Germany. We tasted that same vintage at the tender age of barely two. The blend is broadly similar, with Merlot just ahead of Cabernet and Agiorgitiko making up the remaining 15%. A genuinely good wine with delicate smokiness and mouthwatering minerality – it merited 92 points at the time. Unfortunately we didn't have a bottle on hand to compare this time; they'd probably have been neck and neck. But in five years' time, the Clos Manou should be well ahead. Granted, it also costs twice as much. Still, love of Greek wine is no reason to gloss over that.

Third: Megas Oenos increasingly stands alone. We have discussed Agiorgitiko blends at length on this blog. In most cases, Agiorgitiko plays a supporting role rather than taking the lead opposite its international blending partner. Megas Oenos is one of the few exceptions – and an increasingly lonely one. It's a real pity, to my mind, that Ktima Biblia Chora, after taking over Christos Kokkalis' vineyard in Ilia, did not carry on the Mova – Trilogia's second wine (Trilogia itself being 100% Cabernet Sauvignon) – in its original form. The Mova was 70% Agiorgitiko and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon. That gave the Trilogia a certain dignity, because it was clear that only a selection of barrels went into the top wine – and there was, at least as a second label, another Peloponnesian classic with a very similar varietal profile alongside Megas Oenos. Now that it carries this concept alone, Megas Oenos seems a little out of step with the times. Unfairly so, in my view. The switch to Syrah as the international blending partner in the "Dialogos" (now under the name Ktima Dyo Ipsi) has produced a wine that drinks very well, but doesn't match the racy character of the Mova – to my palate.

All right, fine: I've changed my mind. Megas Oenos is no longer the wine I order in restaurants for lack of anything better. I'll be buying it by choice – at least in good vintages. And if you're wondering whether a Greek red at just under €30 is worth taking a chance on: five Bordeaux, known precisely for delivering the best value in their region, say yes.