By Jack Chapman on 23/04/2024
I am currently sitting, slightly jaded from a full week of claret tasting, wearing a Pichon Baron polo shirt (paid for with my own money – we are totally incorruptible at L&S…) and thinking about what I can pen to give you the greatest insight possible into the 2023 vintage.
By Caroline Tanner on 18/10/2023
With a crisp chill in the morning air and fallen leaves underfoot, it's time to retreat from the garden for the comforting flavours of autumn in the kitchen. Squash, mushrooms, beetroot, celeriac, blackberries, apples and pears are all coming into season – beautiful earthy flavours that invite long, slow cooking and deep, satisfying red wine pairings.
By Charles Lea on 06/07/2023
Neal Martin's latest article on the Vinous website is timely and, in a most measured and reasonable way, lays out how an apparently well-motivated individual is capable of making all the right noises about quality of wine and how to achieve it, so that the back story sounds plausible, while marketing it entirely on price.
By Caroline Tanner on 05/07/2023
We’re diving into the Lea & Sandeman cellars to find the perfect wines for your glass this summer. Chances are, if you’re thinking about buying Bordeaux at the moment, you’re probably planning to open it in 5-10 years’ time.
By Angus Barcroft on 27/04/2023
Angus Barcroft from our private clients team gives us an insight into day four of Bordeaux en primeur tastings: Day 4 Today we had another early start that saw us heading up the D2 road for a day of tasting along the left bank in Saint-Julien, Pauillac & Saint-Estèphe.
By Tom Lorimer on 26/04/2023
Tom Lorimer from our private clients team takes us through the third day on the road in Bordeaux: Day 3 A fairly straightforward itinerary for the team today: work out how to open boot the on our over-designed hire car, mop-up the rest of the right bank, and then head north to start tackling the vast expanse of the left bank.
By Jack Chapman on 25/04/2023
And we’re off, scouting Châteaux for the best of Bordeaux 2022. Our head of Private Clients, Jack Chapman is sending us his notes and impressions, giving us a verbal tour of some of the finest wines of Bordeaux’s right bank, and the team’s take on the mystifying 2022 vintage.
By Jack Chapman on 14/04/2023
I am going out on a limb with this blog entry, to say that you probably don’t need me to tell you that Lafite, Mouton, Margaux and Haut-Brion will probably be exceptional in the 2022 releases. It is, by now, far from a secret that we’ve got an outstanding vintage on our hands.
By David Porter on 12/05/2022
All my pre-departure research had left me rather gloomy about the week ahead, tasting through the latest vintage in Bordeaux. Thank goodness I was travelling with Jack, ever upbeat, hopefully we could buoy each other along through the teeth-shattering tastings.
By David Porter on 09/06/2020
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 contingent. We had been heading into London to the Mentzelopoulos family's Marylebone outpost - Clarette (the wine bar owned by Alexandra Petit Mentzelopoulos).
By Edward Richardson on 06/04/2019
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 list of wines we felt were outstanding within their quality level or commune.
By Edward Richardson on 01/04/2019
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 are some early impressions of the vintage and thoughts on the upcoming campaign.