By Charles Lea on 23/09/2013
Lionel Gosseaume draws our attention to Chris Kissack’s website The Wine Doctor, in which his ‘weekend wine’ from the 16th of September was Lionel’s ‘Climat No. 2’, featuring the extremely rare Meslier Saint François grape
By Andrew Hooper on 12/09/2013
Behold a fine trio of French red wines to warm the spirit, all of which will yield the faintest hint of change from a twenty and also make an ideal accompaniment to autumnal cooking:
By Charles Lea on 02/09/2013
Unlike some Champagne houses who rattle out the vintages one to the next – Pol have the strength of mind and the integrity to hang on to theirs until they are really sure that it is at the perfect point to release, allowing for early drinking for the impatient, but always with the class and depth needed for longer-term ageing.
By Charles Lea on 26/07/2013
Hail has been much in the news recently, with Tamlyn Currin making Raimond de Villeneuve's La Grêle 2012 Rosé the wine of the week last week on www.
By Charles Lea on 24/07/2013
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 Year', All the L&S team are absolutely delighted to have been given this award by such a high-calibre panel, (Tim Atkin MW, Oz Clarke, Sam Harrop MW, Peter McCombie MW, Charles Metcalfe and Derek Smedley MW) and judged against such formidable competition.
By Ed H-B on 19/07/2013
In anticipation of the Royal birth we have dropped our price on our Royal warranted champagnes: Pol Roger White Foil Brut, Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut and Louis Roederer Brut Premier, all just £30 a bottle. For ideas on how to top up for the hot weekend, browse our recommendations throughout our blog.
By Ed H-B on 15/07/2013
Louis Roederer is one of the largest remaining independent Champagne Houses, owned by the same family since it was founded in 1776, the same year that the USA was officially founded. The house is famous for making 'Cristal' - the highly demanded Super Cuvée - but the Brut Premier is their classic, non vintage blend and represents excellent quality in the slightly fuller, creamier style.
By Ed H-B on 12/06/2013
Pioneering a new vanguard of Chinon wines exemplifying purity and extraction, this is a splendid example of pure Cabernet Franc made by a seasoned expert. Rich, sumptuous, dark ruby in colour, yet with clean and precisely extracted fruit, Bernard Baudry's 2010 Domaine Chinon is a treat to drink now or will happily cellar over the next five years.
By Charles Lea on 02/06/2013
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 which still makes a lot of the best value wines in the world.
By Charles Lea on 02/06/2013
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 offer some of the best value in Bordeaux - just at a more accessible price than his 'big wine' l'Église Clinet.
By Charles Lea on 02/06/2013
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 what is now Clos Manou was a 4 hectare ‘Cru Bourgeois’ called Château Cantegrive.
By Charles Lea on 02/06/2013
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 wines of remarkable value, with Pierre continuing to tweak the way the vineyards and managed and the wine is made and aged.