Archive Releases
12 June 2008
This year's En-Primeur campaign is coming to a close, which gives me the perfect opportunity to reflect on some of the releases so far. . .
The 'First Growth' Châteaux of Latour, Margaux, Haut Brion and Mouton Rothschild (My First Growth of the Vintage) have all quietly crept out over the past few days and have matched each others release prices of £2,450.00 IB per case. . .
Château Lafite Rothschild's release is imminent and I'd be extremely surprised if their opening price isn't in line with the other 'First Growths'. . .
La Mission Haut Brion, which usually plays second fiddle to Haut Brion (except in truly great vintages such as 1982 & 2000) released their 2007 at almost 'First Growth' prices - £2,000.00 IB per case, which I consider to be a very brave or perhaps a naïve move to make. I personally can not see the wine market accepting this price. . .
There was a lot of 'doom & gloom' associated with the 2007 En-Primeur campaign however, we've also seen some absolutely terrific buys. . .
My 'TOP' wine/& buy of the vintage (and has been since 2005) goes to Château Pontet Canet, which we can still offer a few cases @ £450.00 IB per case. . . This truly represents incredible value compared to all of the aforementioned 'First Growths', which received a slightly lower score from Monsieur Parker except Château Margaux, which received exactly the same score of 91-94. . . I would certainly rather buy 5 x cases of Pontet Canet to 1 x case of any First Growth. . .
The following Châteaux also represented good buys too:
- Chateaux Rauzan Segla (92-94 Neal Martin) @ £375.00 IB per case – We have only 3 x cases available. . .
- Chateau Leoville Barton – Sold Out
- Pavie Macquin – Sold Out
- Maléscot St Exupéry – Sold Out (But possibly more available – RP – Higher score than Lafite & Latour)
- Domaine de Chevalier Blanc – Sold Out
- Pape Clement Blanc – Sold Out
- Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc – We can offer 1 x case @ £460.00 IB 'untied'
- Doisy Daëne – Sold Out
- Doisy Vedrines – Sold Out
- Climens – Sold Out (Allocations coming to you in the next day or two)
Still to come (& hopefully over the next few days):
- d'Yquem
- Haut Brion Blanc
- Ausone
- Pavie
- Angelus
- Cheval Blanc
- Le Pin
- Petrus
Château Lafite Rothschild
And finally we see sight of the last First Growth, Château Lafite Rothschild, which is offered (as predicted) @ £2,450.00 IB per case. . .
The 2007 receives 5 stars (18.5) from Decanter Magazine
"Black-red colour, big, almost velvety, violets on the nose, expressive while also being quite restrained, firm, even slightly old-fashioned compared to the explosion of fruit in recent years, a wine of immense purity and great length and breed"
90-93 from Robert Parker
17.5 Jancis Robinson
89-92 James Suckling
89-91 Neal Martin
As with all First Growths, these are strictly allocated to our most loyal customers.
New Price for Château Cos d'Estournel
We've just been offered a parcel of 2007 Château Cos d'Estournel at a significantly reduced price of £600.00 IB per case – The 'opening' offer was originally set @ £650.00 IB per case. . . I thought Jean-Guillaume Prats 'opening' offer was a welcoming, but this new offer is fab, particularly considering that the 2007 Cos d'Estournel is highly rated by all the critics - Robert Parker rates it (90-93), which is the same as Château Lafite Rothschild, Latour and Petrus.
Neal Martin however, awards a whopping (94-95)
"The nose is far more backward and closed but there is very good fruit intensity here with blackberries, black cherries, violets and again, that tang of orange sorbet that shows the ripeness here. The palate is full-bodied, very good ripeness again with bright black fruits laced with touches of black cherry, orange zest and an engaging citrus freshness towards the finish. This is an unequivocal success for the vintages, certainly one of the best wines. Good grip on the off-dry finish. Superb. Tasted April 2008."
Decanter Magazine 18.0
Please revert if you wish to acquire some at the new price. . .