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07/06/2016

En Primeur Latest Releases

by Giles Cooper (Head of Marketing & PR)
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Haut Bailly 2015 has been released this afternoon at a very decent £720. We currently have more pre-orders than availability but we are working to secure more stock.

A release of significance this morning – the ever-impressive BI favourite Lynch Bages was released at £890. Neal Martin scored it 93-95 and described it as "an excellent, top-grade Lynch Bages".

Without doubt the finest example since the 2010 and 2009, and arguably even superior to the hugely impressive 2005 which showed so brilliantly at our 10 Years On tasting back in early 2015, this is a charming example of Pauillac and another in the long line of brilliant Lynch Bages from Jean-Charles Cazes – who has done such a fine job running the estate since taking over from his father, Bordeaux legend Jean-Michel Cazes. Also available is the impressive second wine, Echo de Lynch Bages, at £270.

We also have some stunning Pomerols from the estates of the late Catherine Péré-Vergé. La Violette was one of our favourite wines of the vintage, scoring 96-98+ across our team; however at £1900 it is not for the faint-hearted. That said its production is miniscule; the vineyard is a mere 1.68ha and yields as low as 20hl/ha, so only around 250 cases are made.

More compelling is the superb 2015 Le Gay at £760. One of the finest, and yet most oft-overlooked wines from the Pomerol plateau, we have found this to be one of the most consistent estates on the Right Bank over the past few years. Neal Martin agrees, warning against overlooking it “because it has been on a roll in recent years”.

With the 2009 trading around GBP 1000 and the 2010 over GBP 1300 (and the 2005 over £1200 but near-impossible to get) this is a very good price for a truly gorgeous Pomerol.

One wine to draw your attention to is the simply ridiculous value Marsau which, at £108 per case, has to be one of the best inside buys of the vintage. With 92-93 points from James Suckling and 89-91 points from Neal Martin, this is one 'outlier' that has really delivered in 2015.

Château Marsau has been anointed variously by Robert Parker (no less) as “the Petrus of the Cotes de Francs”, “Pomerol-look-alike” and “a revelation for this particular appellation”. This brilliant wine from the lesser-spotted Côte de Francs is the jewel of the Chadronnier family who have made significant investments in time and money to really drive up standards in both vineyard and winery. Planted exclusively to Merlot, the deep clay soil helped hydrate the vines during the fierce heat of July making for a deep, concentrated wine but retaining a wonderful freshness. As James Suckling notes, this is a fascinating wine that will reward the canny buyer. We can’t recommend it highly enough.