During a recent trip to France, I was thrilled by the reasonably priced Bordeaux wines that I found on restaurant wine lists. I'm not talking about savings-sucking Grand Cru wines, but the classification Cru Bourgeois. In next week's City Weekly "Drink" column, I'll dig deeper into France's Cru Bourgeois wines. For now, here's one I tasted recently that is a terrific bang-for-the-buck. 

Chateau Landat was listed as a wine growing estate in 1881 (Haut-Medoc) and registered as Cru Bourgeois in 1908.  Chateau Landat 2012 ($22)  is  a perfect example of what a Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux can be. It's elegant, soft, harmonious and, frankly, delicious. 

However, this is not a wine to necessarily ponder. It's ready to drink right now (the 2012 vintage), a traditional Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (60%), Merlot (35%) and Petit Verdot (5%), aged for 12 months in oak. 

Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux wines are popular in bistros and brasseries in France. This one - Chateau Landat 2012 - is a slam-dunk with steak frites, rack of lamb and a good partner for the cheese course.