Search Results for Bordeaux

Last week we were delighted to welcome Aurelian Valance, Commercial Director of Chateau Margaux to our offices for what was a quite brilliant tasting of what is Bordeaux’s most seductive first growth. We have long been fans of Ch. Margaux and have enjoyed an excellent relationship with the property for some years now.  Yes: all the first growths are different, ...

Bordeaux has seen a plethora of good to great vintages over the last 10-15 years most notably 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2018... and now 2019. Speaking with some of Bordeaux's top winemakers in the build-up towards the eventual release of the 2019 vintage, has only further cemented the change in tone in Bordeaux in regard to the expectations of a ...

This week saw a very slow start due to the bank holidays in France on Monday and Wednesday but the latter part of the week saw a cluster of releases on to the market, the highlight being the release of Chateau Pape Clement’s Blanc and Rouge. With almost perfect timing Antonio Galloni released his Bordeaux 2017 EP scores highlighting both ...

The Right Bank in 2018 Our first stop was Pomerol, with a visit to Clos du Clocher to taste a number of wines from Jean Baptiste Bourotte. Clos du Clocher is situated in some of the finest Pomerol terroir in the middle of the plateau neighboring Trotanoy and La Fleur Petrus. We have been following the Chateau avidly as quality ...

Bud Cuchet and I spent a couple of days in Bordeaux last week – the first time that either of us have visited Bordeaux during the harvest despite nearly forty years in the trade between us. The aim was twofold: to see the 2012 crop coming in and to retaste a few 2011s and 2010s. Despite our hosts being rather ...

Tuesday’s release of Mouton-Rothschild was a success, with the wine now sold through.  If this wine is of interest please do let us know and we will do our best to source it for you. Wednesday saw a mix of stop and go.  Angélus at GBP 1700 per dozen in bond looks good when compared to the 2012, which sells at ...

The spiritual home of fine wine, packed full of household names that have become bywords for luxury and quality, Bordeaux is where many begin their collections. Below is a brief snapshot of the appellations of the region, the big names, some under-the-radar gems and what it is that makes them all so special. Pauillac – Classic, Quintessential Claret Home ...

Our wines of the vintage with scores out of 20 points in brackets: Haut Brion Blanc Pessac(19) Mouton Rothschild Pauillac (18+) Pontet Canet Pauillac (18+) Margaux Margaux (18+) Eglise Clinet Pomerol (18+) La Conseillante Pomerol (18+) Domaine de Chevalier Blanc Pessac (18+) Ducru Beaucaillou St Julien (18+) Lafleur Pomerol (18+) Vieux Chateau Certan Pomerol (18) Leoville Lascases St Julien (18) ...

Bordeaux 2011 has gone off ahead of Robert Parker's usual starting gun with Lafite unexpectedly leading the way (we are still confirming our allocations). Mutterings in Bordeaux that Lafite is too expensive is unlikely to prove true given it's attraction for the Asian markets, but the other 1st Growths would perhaps be wise to disregard Lafite when setting their own prices. The ...

2013 is a Bordeaux vintage that has been challenged from the start. Challenged by the weather that made the vintage, challenged by the naysayers since the grapes were picked, challenged by a wine market disenchanted by Bordeaux and challenged now by those with the job of selling it. Asked earlier this week by the maker of one of the year's ...

The trouble with writing about the previous year’s Bordeaux vintage is that one is almost invariably going to take some stick from somebody. Praise the wines and the accusations of hype will fly in. Criticise them and all sorts of tricky emails and telephone calls come in from Bordeaux. Tread carefully, report honestly and stay on the fence-ish? Here goes: ...

The F+R team will be in Bordeaux next week tasting the 2014 vintage, a vintage that is described by some as being make-or-break for the en-primeur system. We visited the left bank of Bordeaux earlier this year for a glimpse of what is looking to be a vintage of promising quality. Our tastings, limited though they were, confirmed that the ...

The en-primeur machine is now very much in gear. After Friday’s release of Duhart-Milon, Monday saw another big name: Beychevelle.  Both of these wines are offered at less than any other available vintage and Duhart-Milon’s reduction in price on their 2013 is a very welcome gesture. The big news, and what we have been waiting for, is a wine with ...

In 2013, a year where tasting through the vintage was more of a challenge than usual, Montrose made a wine, indeed three wines: Tronquoy-Lalande, Dame de Montrose and Montrose itself, that seemed to have come from an entirely different vintage.  The wines had weight, sweet fruit, balance and more.  I asked Hervé Berland what the trick was.  He just smiled ...

This has been an exciting week for en-primeur releases, with a number of the Bordeaux châteaux hitting the mark in terms of their pricing. Two of the buys of the vintage played their hand on Wednesday: Ch. Canon and Ch. Rauzan-Ségla.  At GBP 375 per dozen in bond both deserve a place in every cellar.  Ch. Canon was our highest-scoring ...

Today has seen a number of releases that look to be good buys, notably one of our picks of the vintage, Smith-Haut-Lafitte. Both red and white "Smith" have developed quite a following over the years as the Cathiards, owners since 1990, have invested a great deal of time, effort and money into this beautiful property.  Smith-Haut-Lafitte Blanc is quite excellent ...

This morning sees the release of 2014 Pichon-Lalande, a wine that we rated as one of the vintage's best.  Nicolas Glumineau, a man with both 2009 and 2010 Montrose on his CV, is getting his feet under the table at Pichon-Lalande and the 2014 is everything that Comtesse should be: elegant, feminine and regal. Moreover, it is pure, pure Pauillac. ...

It has been a quiet week in Bordeaux though with the releases of Fonbel and Moulin St Georges we expect Ausone to be released shortly. Hints from Bordeaux suggest that Ducru-Beaucaillou should also be released soon: this was one of our picks of the vintage and, if sensibly priced, will be worth looking at. The pattern of the vintage's sales has ...

One of our picks is out today: Ducru-Beaucaillou.  The price, at GBP 375 per six bottles in bond, looks fair and Bruno's 2014 isn't a million miles off his 2010.  A very stylish wine. Cheval Blanc is now available.  This wine received unanimous praise and is a candidate for the wine of the vintage.  The price is GBP 1695 per ...

At the end of this month, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate will publish his latest scores on what is one of the great young Bordeaux vintages: 2005.  Wine Advocate Issue no. 219 will contain one of the most important reports in years. To set the scene - 2005 was hailed on release, at least by wine merchants, as a perfect vintage.  A ...

The wine world should have descended on Bordeaux this week to taste the 2019 vintage from barrel and make their assessments, with the chateaux initially due to release the wines from mid-April onwards. However, it comes as no surprise, the biggest event of the fine wine year is currently on ice. While the Bordelais speculate on the en primeur ice thawing somewhere ...

A prince’s kiss rouses the cursed princess from a century-long slumber in Sleeping Beauty but the man responsible for Bordeaux’s long-overdue reawakening was not a prince (this being the French Republic after all) but Alain Juppé, France’s former Prime Minister. Bordeaux had been comatosed earning it the nickname la belle endormie but the indefatigable politician has given the city the kiss ...

Following last week’s Bordeaux hiatus due to the VinExpo wine fair in Bordeaux, we expected a busy week to follow. The week saw a flurry of very well priced “value-buy” favourites come out and quickly sell out! This included Chateau Leoville Barton and highly anticipated Domaine de Chevalier. Chevalier has proved to be the ultimate value pick of the vintage ...

The Right Bank icons of Bordeaux are situated on two very distinct terroir regions, the limestone plateau of Saint Emilion and the dark clay, rich in iron soils of Pomerol. Whilst Saint Emilion is one of the most historic winemaking sites in the world; neighbouring Pomerol's rise to prominence has been a much more recent phenomena. Pomerol only really ...

Right from the lead up to the harvest of 2019 through to the Spring of this year we have been speaking extensively to winemakers throughout Bordeaux on their thoughts regarding the progress and quality of the vintage. In November of last year at the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux tasting in London, it was already becoming clear this was ...

Chateau Lynch Bages was easily the biggest release from the left bank to come out this week and with a similar strategy to Chateau Palmer, the wine was released 20% below their 2016 price. Lynch Bages always remains a popular choice and the response was positive (closely matching sales of the 2015 Lynch Bages on release). However demand was noticeably lower ...

This week is the final round up of the 2017 campaign with the last and arguably the best wine of the vintage Chateau Ausone being released on Thursday. Other major right bank releases this week included Chateau Cheval Blanc, Le Pin and Chateau L’Eglise Clinet. Now with everything out and with a bit more time to consider the campaign as ...

Merlot today remains the most planted variety in Bordeaux but its dominance is waning somewhat in an ever warming climate. With “freshness” and “structure” often the buzz words defining the best Bordeaux wines of recent warm vintages – the plush richness and suppleness brought by the merlot variety often seems undersold compared to the role of the Cabernets in the ...

Ahead of the latest En Primeur campaign later this spring, the Bordeaux bandwagon is gradually rolling back into life. Much attention is naturally starting to focus on past vintages (2012’s are bottled and due for release shortly), significant changes in the world of the critics (Robert Parker relinquishing his EP tasting duties to Neal Martin, as well as re-reviewing the ...

After three very difficult vintages on the spin, Bordeaux has come up with what is indisputably a good vintage and, in some cases, a very good vintage.  2014 is easily the best vintage since 2010, and probably better than anything between 2005 and 2009.  The wines lack the magic of a truly great vintage like a 2005 or a 2009, ...

At Robert Parker’s Grand World Tour tasting a couple of months back we tasted a selection of wines that represented the very best of their respective regions.  There were, obviously, points galore on the table.  However, in my opinion, there was just one wine with the character that I think essential to “grand vin”, breeding.  Which is to say class, ...

This was always going to be a vintage about price.  The quality was clear from the start, and there is clear consensus in the opinion that 2014 is the best vintage since 2010 (not that tricky) and arguably better than anything this century bar the blockbusters (2000, 2005, 2009 & 2010).  What we didn’t know and, to a degree, still ...

The week has seen a number of releases, some working, some not. The big name on Wednesday was Léoville-Barton at GBP 429 per dozen in bond.  This is an excellent Léoville: tasting at this property is almost not necessary given the consistent quality here and, whilst this probably isn't a speculative buy, it is a wine that will give great ...

The first full week of the campaign is now behind us and already we have seen some top wines released. So far the Right Bank has dominated, with Chateau Angelus being the only top Grand Cru Classe released so far, causing huge interest. However, the high scoring, low priced Chateau Laroque was also an incredibly popular choice as was Chateau ...

Another busy week of En Primeur with a steady flow of releases from across the appellations. The highlight release of the week had to be Chateau Clinet who produced an outstanding wine in 2018, receiving some of the highest scores ever at the property, yet releasing the wine at a significantly lower price than both its 2015 and 2016 wines. ...

Another busy week in Bordeaux with some major releases stirring huge interest from around the world. Chateau Pavie Macquin was one of the top picks in Saint-Emilion in terms of quality and price and the wine unsurprisingly sold out very quickly. Le Dome was another Saint-Emilion hit in 2018 and again its fair pricing combined with huge critic approval saw ...

Following the UK bank holiday on Monday we came back to three compelling releases on Tuesday. Troplong Mondot was released at well below the price of the excellent 2016 vintage, at a very reasonable £459 per 6. The stylistic choices the Chateau made in the 2018 vintage to focus on purity of fruit and freshness produced a stunning wine that ...

A big week in Bordeaux EP started with a bang. Leoville Lascases was released to high anticipation having received sky high scores. With potential 100 points across the board, this St Julien is the highest scoring wine of the vintage. James Suckling simply declared: “OMG”, whilst Jeb Dunnuck hailed it as “a candidate for the wine of the vintage... it’s ...

We are delighted to present something truly unique that would make a stunning centrepiece to any cellar: beautifully presented, large format Bordeaux from some of the most iconic chateaux... * * Large Format Bordeaux Collections For those looking to fill a cellar with top Bordeaux, source beautifully packaged luxury gifts or buy a swathe of rare large format Bordeaux in one fell ...

Find out what the critics are saying about Bordeaux 2015 En Primeur and start setting alerts for the wines you want… Bordeaux 2015 Vintage Hopes have been high for the Bordeaux 2015 vintage ever since the harvest. Early opinions from critics, industry experts and winemakers suggest this is an excellent vintage; the best since 2010 and potentially surpassing it in ...

Bordeaux 2015 En Primeur has begun. Find out more about the vintage, critic opinions and the major appellations… Bordeaux 2015 Vintage Bordeaux 2015 appears to be a strong vintage. It is neither a left or right bank vintage, a Merlot or Cabernet vintage, a red or white vintage. There is outstanding quality in all areas, but it is not across ...

As the négociants begin to close their offers on 2015 Bordeaux, they are telling us that it has been a “great En Primeur campaign”. Here at FINE+RARE we wholeheartedly agree… First Growths & Their Peers In many ways it was business as usual with the first growths and their peers (Pétrus and Le Pin) dominating our sales and receiving huge ...

With 2015 still selling strongly and 2014 enjoying resurgence after big rescores from Antonio Galloni and James Suckling, we now turn our attention to the much-anticipated 2016 Bordeaux En Primeur… Can 2016 rival 2014 & 2015? All early signs are pointing towards 2016 Bordeaux being an excellent vintage, potentially the third in a row. A turbulent, but in the end ...

Early critic scores and the buzz in the marketplace suggest that the Bordeaux 2016 En Primeur campaign could be one of the biggest yet. Read on to find out about the vintage, critic opinions, scores and all the major appellations… While at En Primeur week Jancis Robinson has suggested that her readers “start saving” as she is “much enjoying tasting ...

Working the vines is a truly magical thing. We are delighted to launch Bordeaux Safari, an exclusive, first-of-its-kind trip where customers can experience the behind-the-scenes management of a top vineyard, overseen by the very best in the business. As any grower will tell you, great wine starts with great vines. While state of the art equipment and care in the ...

Bordeaux Safari - Day 1 A small group of eager wine lovers are picked up from the airport and driven direct to the magnificent Chateau Le Pape in Pessac (a recently renovated Chateau owned by Chateau Haut Bailly) surrounded by vineyards. The interior has the classic grandeur of Bordeaux heritage chic mixed with all the modern comforts and a permanent ...

With just under 100 wines released through 'La Place de Bordeaux' this week, the En Primeur campaign kicked-off with the surprise release of Chateau Palmer and its second wine, Alter Ego de Palmer, on Monday morning. Despite the Wine Advocate and Vinous only having released their overview of the vintage, the positive overall response from the trade provided enough confidence ...

Bordeaux being the bread and butter of our business we find ourselves eating our way round the city on a regular basis. The beauty of having so many friends in the region and like us, all driven by a passion for food and drink, recommendations are easy to come by. Below are a couple of highlights from recent visits.  Tentazioni ...

It has been very quiet this week due to the public holidays spread across the week in France. However Denis Durantou winemaker at Chateau L'Eglise Clinet took advantage of the quiet period releasing his satellite Pomerol, Castillon and Saint Emilion wines. These wines have always been popular since they offer great value for money from one of Bordeaux's top producers and with Denis comparing the ...

It’s like waiting for buses. None show up and then they all come at once. This has been the concertina effect that has come to epitomise the 2017 EP campaign in which most of the top Chateaux have ended up releasing their wines at the same time potentially each sabotaging the other in terms of maximising their exposure on release. ...