Archive Releases
17 April 2009
The penultimate first-growth, Château Margaux sneaked out last night at the same opening price as Latour & Lafite Rothschild… I think it's fair to say that Château Margaux is the least exciting first-growth this year however, the demand has been huge and we'll offer our allocations @ £1,590.00 IB per case to clients' who have supported this Château previously. . .
Chateau Margaux second wine Pavillon Rouge de Margaux is also available @ £315.00 IB per case or £310.00 IB for two cases or more. . .
One wine, which we didn't get round to offering yesterday was Château Duhart-Milon (under the Lafite stable since 1962) which we are delighted offer and highly recommend @ £265.00 IB per case or £260.00 IB for two cases or more. Duhart-Milon is now being preferred over Carruades as prices for the latter are a tad expensive, to put mildly.
Jancis Robinson awards a very impressive 17+, which puts right in the mix with Pichon Lalande, Pichon Baron and Pontet Canet. . .
"Purple. Extremely deep colour – deeper than Lafite! Fine, scented, aromatic and flattering on the nose. Lovely texture. Rather forward and fine tannined. Powdery texture. Lots of Cabernet (73%) but very ripe Cabernet. Very fine and neat – truly baby Lafite, except that of course it tastes much less embryonic in terms of development than its stablemate Lafite. A very successful seductive Duhart-Milon. Great balance"
The Pomerol and Rothschild owned property Château L'Evangile, which is situated near the edge of the high plateau adjoining La Conseillante & VCC is available @ £720.00 IB per case. . . This has received a huge score from Neal Martin who awards (93-95) and describes the wine as "The nose is very impressive, extremely pure and floral with lovely scents of blueberry, violets and cassis with a touch of vanilla. You can almost smell the silkiness. The palate is full-bodied, cashmere tannins, very harmonious and elegant with notes of blackberry, dark cherry, a hint of spice. But it is the texture that is so charming. A sensuous L'Evangile this year"
Pauillac has produced some absolute beauties in 2008 and Château Pichon Lalande is no exception – I have to confess their 2008 is truly brilliant and their release price is equally as fantastic @ £465.00 IB per case. . . This years price is a huge discount on the 07 and I believe it's €36.00 cheaper (our cost) per case compared to the 2004. Fantastic Wine, Fantastic Price & Highly Recommend.
Neal Martin awards (93-95), which places it one spot above Château Latour (92-95)
"This has a deep garnet/purple colour. The nose is tightly-wound, ripe blackberry, plum, pencil shavings and a touch of green leaves. Moderate definition. This is quintessential Pichon-Lalande on the nose, lovely silky mouthfeel, very fine tannins, beautifully balanced, certainly not a powerful Pauillac, but very refined and elegant with blueberry, cassis and crushed stones. It just leaves the mouth lacquered in Cabernet. Wonderful – Pichon is on a roll!"
And to my last notable release before I grab a cup of tea goes to Château Lynch Bages, which we can offer @ £375.00 IB per case. . . Their price does seem fair however, Pichon Lalande offers a hell of lot more wine for your money as does Leoville Baron & Poyferre. My advice is to wait for Château Batailley, which is qualitively on-par with Lynch Bages but should be a bargain in comparison!
NB: We've also added Neal Martin's Pomerol scores/tasting notes. . . There's some huge scores ranging from (96-98) for Petrus, (95-97) for Le Pin, Lafleur & L'Eglise Clinet. . . Very impressive!