The 'really standout' (JR) Leoville Barton was released this morning at GBP 745. Barton is one of the most consistently loved and admired wines of Bordeaux and their 2016 is no exception - Antonio Galloni summed it up as 'eloquent and nuanced to the core, the 2016 is simply magnificent.'
A wine absolutely destined to make the best of the remarkable 2016 harvest, the irresistible Chateau Margaux is available this morning at GBP 5180. As you can imagine we are massively oversubscribed for this wine and are doing our very best to gather enough stock to cover as many pre-orders as possible – focusing on long-standing buyers and those who have spread their purchasing around the 2016 vintage. Lovers of this famously seductive, perfumed claret will find that all the pieces are in place for an absolutely classic, all-time ‘hall of fame’ Margaux – which has an added dimension in 2016 with a new level of precision and detail.
As Neal Martin sums it up 'In a word: crystalline.'
However, whilst their Grand Vin is proving difficult to come by, off the back of this release comes the dazzling pair of Pavillon wines from Chateau Margaux.
We have long known that Pavillon Blanc is the king of white wines on the Left Bank – indeed, it is one of the greatest whites produced in Bordeaux full stop, and it remains one of the very finest examples of pure Sauvignon Blanc produced anywhere in the world. Matthew Jukes awarded it 19+/20 points - 'Amazing length and amazing individuality, this is an awesome Sauvignon Blanc. It might even make two decades.' It was released today at GBP 1465.
We were blown away by the 2016 Pavillon Rouge (GBP 1380) sample that we tasted at the Chateau. Once again, this was one of those occasions where more than one member of the team had to check the bottles to make sure the Grand Vin had not been poured into the wrong glasses... Jukes, again, gushed about the red: 'with remarkable purity and rather beautiful finesse, this is one of the most characterful Pavillon Rouge I have ever tasted.'
A rather welcome and happy release was Brane Cantenac at GBP 630: the fascinating thing about great – and by this we mean truly distinctive – vintages, is not just how the very top estates perform; it’s about seeing which estates show their true potential, and in 2016, Brane Cantenac with 96-98 points from Neal Martin is just one such example. As Neal put it
'it is everything you could possibly want from a Margaux'
and 'the 2016 is a benchmark against which future vintages will be compared.' Unfortunately, and given the critics scores and rather affordable price, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Brane Cantenac is sold out for now but we are doing our best to get hold of some more stock.
The last of this morning's releases was Feytit Clinet at GBP 585 which all of the critics appear to agree is better than the 2015 and should develop into rather an exciting wine.