Europe

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2012 Bordeaux – Brane Cantenac, Léoville Poyferre, Figeac, Clos du Marquis, Nénin

By on 22/05/2013

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 quintessentially elegant wine, and the release price is very realistic. The Cuveliers have released Léoville Poyferré at a price just under that of Léoville Barton, having been well above in some recent vintages.

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Gruaud Larose label - Bordeaux

2012 Bordeaux – Gruaud Larose and Sarget de Gruaud

By on 21/05/2013

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 well-priced compared to some of the Saint Julien second wines, but on the other hand I think I'd still rather have the slightly juicier Connétable Talbot.

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2012 Bordeaux – into the final week? – Ausone, Conseillante, Ducru Beaucaillou, Cheval Blanc, Cos d’Estournel, Lagrange

By on 21/05/2013

Ausone has just been put on the market at £3950. This seems a solid buy against the price of other vintages. Robert Parker calls this "a high class, aristocratic, nearly perfect wine to cellar for a decade and then watch it unfold over the following 40-50 years".

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2012 Bordeaux – Montrose, Clinet, Domaine de Chevalier, Rouget, Clos l’Eglise

By on 17/05/2013

2012 Bordeaux - Montrose, Clinet, Domaine de Chevalier, Rouget, Clos l'Eglise Château Montrose is on a real roll at the moment, and while the 2012 wine is not quite up to the (Parker 100 point) 2009 (currently £2500+, nor the 2010 (£1600+), it is a great Montrose, and as Robert Parker says 'one of the top successes of the vintage'.

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2012 Bordeaux – Grand Puy Lacoste, Pavie Macquin, Branaire Ducru, d’Issan, Haut Batailley, Gloria, de Fieuzal

By on 15/05/2013

This morning's big releases are Grand Puy Lacoste and Pavie Macquin. I did not taste Pavie Macquin this year, but the critics who did seem united  - Robert Parker 92-95, Neal Martin 94-96, and so on. It seems to have united both American and European critics, and as a regular favourite of ours amongst the Saint Emilions, this comes recommended.

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2012 Bordeaux – Pichon Baron, Calon Segur, Clos Fourtet, Smith Haut Lafitte Red & White

By on 13/05/2013

Quite a few releases this morning as Bordeaux gets back from a very long weekend. There is no real sense that there is any urgency to sell this vintage. Coming out at the same price as mature vintages are trading on the market is not going to make for a long-term future for this way of selling wine.

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2012 Bordeaux – another vinolanche – Pontet Canet, Haut Bailly, the wines of Denis Durantou and Stephan von Neipperg – and lots of others.

By on 02/05/2013

Not a lot of time for anyone to react to the sheer number of releases on the market this morning, but briefly, the wines of Denis Durantou, Saintem (also confusingly called Saintayme - it is exactly the same wine), La Chenade, Montlandrie and Les Cruzelles are all oustanding value buys and come strongly recommended.

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2012 Bordeaux – Jean-Philippe Janoueix, Maltus single vineyards, Pape Clément, Lafon-Rochet, Potensac and Fugue de Nénin

By on 30/04/2013

The realisation that tomorrow is a holiday in France seems to have prompted a raft of releases this morning. Lafon Rochet (£245) offers value and consistently good tasting notes from the major critics. It is down around 12% on the 2011 price, but Lafon Rochet has never been about silly pricing so this represents solid value and comes recommended.

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