2012 Bordeaux – Gruaud Larose and Sarget de Gruaud
2012 Bordeaux – Gruaud Larose and Sarget de Gruaud – and a reminder about La Conseillante The only significant releases this afternoon are Gruaud Larose and its second wine Sarget de Gruaud. Sarget is...
View Article2012 Bordeaux – Brane Cantenac, Léoville Poyferre, Figeac, Clos du Marquis,...
Brane Cantenac, Léoville Poyferre, Figeac, Beauséjour Duffau, Clos du Marquis, Nénin Today we have one of my favourite wines in Margaux, Brane Cantenac, where Henri Lurton has made another...
View Article2012 Bordeaux – Denis Durantou’s ‘Haiku of the vintage’& Las Cases, Saint...
2012 Bordeaux – Denis Durantou’s ‘Haiku of the vintage’ & Las Cases, Saint Pierre, Vieux Chateau Certan, and yes… ÉGLISE CLINET A big day today, and maybe the last one for releases in this 2012...
View Article2012 Value Bordeaux for the cellar: Pierre Taïx’s ‘La Mauriane’
Regular Primeur buyers from L&S will know that we have been banging the drum for Pierre Taïx’s ‘La Mauriane’ since 2001, and this tiny property in Puisseguin Saint Emilion continues to produce...
View Article2012 Value Bordeaux for the cellar: Stéphane Dief’s ‘Clos Manou’
Up in the northern Médoc, around the village of Saint Christoly, it was normal, right up to the 1970s, for farmers to have some maize, some cows, a few pigs – and 4 hectares or so of vines. Part of …...
View Article2012 Value Bordeaux for the cellar: Denis Durantou’s Château Montlandrie
You will have seen our earlier push on Denis Durantou’s ‘little wines’, not to mention the little video about the 2012 vintage. Of course ‘little wines’ is a misnomer since they are far from little and...
View Article2012 Bordeaux – a last honk of the horn – real value buys
The 2012 Bordeaux campaign will go down as one with a lot of sound and (especially) fury, signifying very little. The shame is that it obscures the real hard work being done all over this vast region...
View ArticleL&S awarded ‘En Primeur’ Merchant of the Year (IWC)
International Wine Challenge (IWC) Merchant Awards Strictly Come Wine Tasting? On the 18th of July, at the 30th anniversary of the IWC awards, Lea & Sandeman was awarded ‘En Primeur Merchant of the...
View ArticleRelease of 2011 CHÂTEAU YQUEM 1er Cru Classé Sauternes
Apparently we were waiting all this time for the great Bobness' final pronouncement - as if that really changes anything about a wine already praised fulsomely by every other critic on the planet,...
View ArticleBordeaux 2013: Victoria Moore interviews Charles Lea in The Daily Telegraph
“I arrived in Bordeaux on Sunday to taste the 2013 wines which are being shown en primeur. I think we knew all the way through last year, right from the beginning, that it was going to be a difficult...
View Article2013 Bordeaux Primeurs – Keep Calm and Carry On
In recent vintages the Bordeaux primeurs campaign has been an unruly affair, stretching out until the beginning of the summer holidays with no one wanting to be the first to jump. This year it seems to...
View ArticleLynch Bages and the roundup of this week’s 2013 Bordeaux releases
The second week of releases from the 2013 primeur campaign is over, and Lynch Bages has emerged as the first wine to 'work' in any real sense. The Château has released 65% less wine than last year, and...
View ArticleBordeaux Primeurs 14/4/2014
Cos d’Estournel (£900) and it’s stable (Pagodes £290, Cos Blanc £480) are released today but the pricing of Cos is not really conducive to primeur purchasing. If anyone is determined to complete a...
View ArticleBordeaux Primeurs 15/4/2014
A mini deluge of wines on the market this morning, starting with Canon (£365), the 1er Grand Cru Classé Saint Emilion in the same ownership as Rauzan Ségla (also £365) which has already been released...
View Article2013 Bordeaux Primeur releases 16/04/2014 – Climens, Lafite
Just now we have seen the release of Lafite at £3200 per doz., or £1600 per six bottles in bond down a little on last year and by some distance (£2000 per doz) the cheapest Lafite in the market....
View Article2013 Bordeaux: View all latest releases and recommendations in chronological...
L&S recommendations are marked with this symbol Release dates are now shown under the wine title: http://www.leaandsandeman.co.uk/Recent-releases-261-02.html
View Article2013 Bordeaux Releases – 17/04 – Mouton Rothschild & Co. Palmer, Angelus & Pavie
There have been some big names like Mouton-Rothschild, Angelus and Chateau Palmer out today and some of our old favourites like Chateau Talbot or Clerc Milon, but it is hard to get overly excited....
View Article2013 Bordeaux 22/4 – Margaux, Meyney, d’Issan, Brane Cantenac, Troplong Mondot
Today's releases include Château Margaux (£2400) which we tasted well, and like Mouton Rothschild it sits comfortably in the market below any available vintage. Its second wine Pavillon Rouge is also...
View Article2013 Bordeaux 23/04 – Grand Puy Lacoste, Haut Batailley, Canon la Gaffelière,...
2013 Grand Puy Lacoste (£340) was voted one of the best value wines in a poll around the wine trade before the campaign began this year, but at around this price there are several mature and drinkable...
View Article2013 Bordeaux 24/4 – Haut Brion, La Mission, & Co
Today sees the release of the Haut Brion stable, including the highly prized whites of both la Mission and Haut Brion which, if they are of interest to you, need snapping up. Continue reading →
View Article2013 Bordeaux 25/4 – Today’s releases including Figeac, Branaire Ducru and...
CHÂTEAU FIGEAC impressed during our week in Bordeaux and it is one of the wines we have been waiting for, with somewhat bated breath, to see how they would price it.... Continue reading →
View Article2013 Bordeaux 28/4 Today’s releases including Ausone, Cheval Blanc and...
What has been quite a busy day for releases in Bordeaux, has been dominated by the right bank. Two more of the first growths (Ausone & Cheval Blanc) have broken cover and so has one of our...
View Article2013 Bordeaux 29/4 – some fun on the final straight – Chenade, Cruzelles,...
We really really liked Clos du Marquis this year, and Léoville Las Cases was pretty stunning but not really looking a great primeur buy at this level. Beauregard, which showed really well, seems to us...
View Article2013 Bordeaux 29/04 (part deux) – Late runners – Gruaud Larose & Sarget
During the primeurs tasting week in Bordeaux we had en enjoyable evening tasting at the the Chateau and had the opportunity to try several older vintages - particularly impressive were the samples of...
View Article2013 Bordeaux 30/4 – L’Église Clinet, Vieux Château Certan, Léoville...
As expected Denis Durantou released his flagship wine L'Église Clinet. Considered by many as the wine of the vintage, and in very limited quantity, this was always going to be in demand, even if it is...
View Article2013 Bordeaux 02/05 – Recap: where to find value, including the 2013 L&S...
Today Neal Martin begins his note on the 2013 Sauternes with “Usually, I urge readers to go out and buy Sauternes at the end of my report, but instead…go out and buy Sauternes. Go on. You know you want...
View Article2013 Bordeaux 05/05 – Bank Holiday releases, Malescot Saint Éxupery, Clos...
The Bank Holiday releases brought another yawn. Malescot may be not terribly expensive compared to previous vintages, but it is hard to get excited, while Clos l'Église just makes us think Beauregard...
View Article2013 Bordeaux 06/05 – Pichon Lalande, Ducru Beaucaillou, Pavie Macquin,...
The whole stable of wines from Nicolas Thienpont at Pavie Macquin, which started with the Cote de Francs Puygueraud and continued through Trimoulet, to the grander wines, Berliquet, Larcis Ducasse,...
View Article2014 Bordeaux : Talbot, Chasse Spleen, Guiraud, Troplong Mondot
This morning - where France is not on holiday – the 2014 releases continue. The big one is Château Talbot 2014 (£290). We liked the wine, although the balance of all notes suggests a wine that maybe...
View ArticleInternational Wine Challenge (IWC) shortlist success for L&S
Once again L&S is on many shortlists for the International Wine Challenge Merchant of the Year Awards. We are delighted to feature not only on the hotly competitive list for Regional Merchant of...
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2015 Bordeaux en primeur : the most interesting vintage since 2010
Well it’s (nearly) that time of year again. Early news suggests that this really is a top-drawer vintage, but there are also reasons to believe that it may not be quite such a homogeneous success as...
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2015 Bordeaux – anecdotal evidence – The Right Bank
There are various people in Bordeaux (or rather in the vineyards around Bordeaux) who are prepared to be intelligently honest in their appraisals of vintages, and that can really help sort out what...
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Bordeaux 2015 – Lafon Rochet, Fonbel, Quinault L’Enclos, Clos de L’Oratoire,...
The dismal day here in London yesterday was somewhat mirrored by the dispiriting news from Bordeaux that they are not really getting the message on pricing! There were several releases that we would...
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2015 Bordeaux – Final Recommendations + Revealed: the new Carmes Haut Brion...
At the beginning of the 2015 campaign, we advised those who thought we’d Leave to pile in before the pound plummeted, and those who thought we’d Remain to hold their fire until after the referendum as...
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2018 Bordeaux En Primeur: Delight Or Dismay?
We will touch down at Mérignac airport early on Sunday morning and fly straight into the 2018 Bordeaux en primeur tastings. Judgement will be reserved until all the barrels have been sampled but here...
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Wine – The Christening Present Conundrum
Fine wine has long been a popular choice for christening presents. As the wine matures, so too does the recipient and eventually, many years down the line, a choice will be made whether to drink the...
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2018 Bordeaux En Primeur: Left Bank Roundup
On Wednesday we published our immediate thoughts on the wines of the Right Bank (see 2018 Bordeaux En Primeur: Right Bank Roundup). Here are our first impressions from the other side of the river and a...
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2019 Bordeaux – Negative Comment, But Bordeaux Presses On
We've already said that the UK trade is not terribly enthusiastic about the prospect of a primeur campaign over this summer, and we are not the only ones. "This horrible virus could have been the...
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Bordeaux 2019 En Primeur (and the gossip so far)
Word has been seeping out that the 2019 vintage in Bordeaux is a good one. Not ‘the vintage of the century’ again, but better than 2018, and continuing the long run of successful vintage that Bordeaux...
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2019 Bordeaux EP | Pontet Canet kicks off
Vintage good to outstanding. Timing poor to appalling. Pricing might be interesting We have already expressed our sympathy with the view that the interruption of the primeur tastings in Bordeaux should...
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2019 Bordeaux EP | Château Cos d’Estournel Release
Although a hotly anticipated release, Cos d’Estournel, with its position next to Lafite, is arguably St Estèphe’s answer to a first growth. The 2019 was offered to us this morning with a score of 97-99...
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2019 Bordeaux – Lafite & Mouton. A Tasting en Franglais
Wednesday was quite a day as we headed to the Rothschild family’s English home, Waddesdon Manor, for an impressive Rothschild double header – the 5 wines from the Lafite Rothschilds and 5 wines from...
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2019 Bordeaux EP | A Case for Alter Ego
There have been a fair number of ‘ifs’ about the 2019 Bordeaux En Primeur. The first and perhaps biggest was the ‘if it would happen’. With most of the world in various states of lockdown, Primeur week...
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2019 Bordeaux EP | Château Margaux – Zooming In
Our plans to taste the latest releases from Chateau Margaux face to face (at a safe distance!) with the team from the Chateau were thwarted last week by complications with travel for the Bordeaux...
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Bordeaux & Value for money: The Brand Factor
I look at wine prices constantly. Partly, because it’s my living, but it also goes far, far beyond that – I’m one of those people who can’t stand getting over-charged for anything, whether it’s a...
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2020 Bordeaux En Primeur: What do we know?
The short answer is, from a first hand perspective, not a lot. Written reports compare the weather to that of 2016, 2018 and 2019 – mild and wet in the spring, which followed through to a hot, dry...
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Tasting 2020 Bordeaux EP: Angélus, Ferrand & Tronquoy-Lalande
The 2020 vintage is beginning to reach us, with the first major sample arriving yesterday. These blog entries will keep track of my thoughts on the samples that I am able to taste, along with a few...
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Saint-Estephe’s famous yellow Château is going greener day by day
We had a brilliant, quite intimate conversation with Basile Tesseron of Lafon Rochet as we tasted together his fabulous 2020 release over the airwaves. This is a special year for him and the estate as...
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A love letter to Château Gruaud Larose
When someone around you decides to change for the better, it’s usually a lovely thing to watch. Maybe they start eating more healthily, correct an annoying trait or start doing charity work. Even if...
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