By Ed H-B on 28/03/2014
March Sale Ending this Sunday at Midnight Just a note to say that our March Sale draws to a close at Midnight this Sunday 30th March. Late additions include Luigi Einaudi Barolo and Gonzalez Byass Fino Palmas Sherries.
By Andrew Hooper on 28/03/2014
With the days getting longer and warmer (hopefully), this Spring-like Season calls for wines from the Jardin de France. The majestic beauty of France’s longest river immediately calls to mind white wines – from crisp classic Sancerre at one end (actually nearer the middle, but let’s not split hairs)(oh, go on, let’s) to the flinty minerality of Muscadet at the other.
By David Porter on 27/03/2014
This is serious stuff. As it hits the glass there is a huge mousse, you can sense the wine and the bubbles, bursting to get out of the bottle after nearly 12 years in the cellar. This soon subsides into a very gentle, beading bubble. Fresh, driven and powerfully mineral – tasting young, despite its fabulous age this will no doubt settle down in 6 months or so to be a wonderful, intense yet balanced Champagne.
By Charles Lea on 26/03/2014
Following on from the fantastic 2006 vintage, the Tassinaia 2007 has been extremely popular in our shops of late and as Victoria Moore points out in her piece ‘Best Wine Deals’ in The Telegraph last Saturday
By David Porter on 22/03/2014
On Sunday the 6th of April the 160th Oxford vs Cambridge Boat Race will take place. A brilliant event, steeped in history, of which we are enthusiastic supporters; not least because it passes so close to two of our shops in Barnes and Chiswick.
By David Porter on 21/03/2014
A whistle-stop trip to Bollinger has been a great reminder of just how good this Champagne House is. From the outset it is clear that at Bollinger they really do not cut corners in their efforts to make the most of the raw materials they have.
By Charles Lea on 18/03/2014
Now that Latour has withdrawn from the annual en primeur circus, we can expect regular releases of wines the Château deems ready to drink. This year it is the turn of The Forts 2006 and the Grand Vin 2004, which is a wine we liked at the original en primeur tasting in 2005 but sadly not had the opportunity to try since.
By Ed H-B on 18/03/2014
Rose Murray-Brown of the Scotsman puts the straight chardonnay Legras Blanc de Blancs NV Champagne in the top spot on a recent park bench tasting in Champagne with Christophe Constant of JL Vergnon:
By Charles Lea on 12/03/2014
"Baciato dalla grazia" – "kissed by good fortune" – is how Italians refer to those rare, fortunate individuals who always appear to achieve what they want in life with no effort. The Gambero Rosso tasting of Messorio starts "In three words? Baciato dalla grazia. In one? Fantastico" and goes on to note it at 96/100.
By Andrew Hooper on 09/03/2014
Stephen Tanzer is the respected author of the well-followed wine review site International Wine Cellar and his thoughts are widely quoted, not least by LEA & SANDEMAN. Quoted as "exceptionally informative" by none other than Robert Parker and "thoroughly reliable" by our own Jancis Robinson MW, his views on the wines of the 2012 Burgundy vintage are required reading.
By David Porter on 06/03/2014
On Thursday 27th February, an eager team from Lea and Sandeman assembled, sleeves rolled-up, to help prepare for the NSPCC City Fine Wine Challenge – an annual team tasting quiz for some of the City’s most respected institutions.
By Peter Ogilvy-Wedderburn on 04/03/2014
A recent article by Ferran Centelles, sommelier of Restaurant El Bulli, on Jancis Robinson.com is entitled ‘Montsant – half-price Priorat?’, which is a provocative title, but the article shows just how far this D.O has come in a very short space of time.