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12/06/2017

En Primeur Latest Releases

by Giles Cooper (Head of Marketing & PR)
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A surprise late release on Friday was L'Evangile at GBP 2125. This singular piece of terroir abuts Petrus, VCC and La Conseillante on the sought-after Pomerol plateau and always produces a brooding, powerful and distinctive style – and the 2016 is right on the money, albeit with the finesse and detail that typifies this unique vintage. Antonio Galloni describes it as “without question one of the most brilliant and memorable wines of the year”. The charming second wine, Le Petit Lion, is also available at GBP 425.

This morning sees the release of Chateau Leoville Las Cases at GBP 2100 - which, in Wine Advocate scoring terms, it equals or betters every wine produced at the estate, whether scored by Parker or Martin with Martin scoring the 2016 98-100 points to which he added 'Yeah, it's good.' There is no doubt this is one of the very finest wines of what is a quite unique vintage.

Another of the big names has released this morning – Ausone. Typically this is produced in pretty tiny quantities and demand as ever is stratospheric – so this wine is Sold Out. However there is a little of the truly brilliant second wine, Chapelle d’Ausone. This might seem expensive for a deuxieme vin at GBP 1750 but make no mistake, it is one of the very finest St Emilions we tasted on our trip. It would most certainly stand up to scrutiny against Grands Vins of similar price.

We have also seen second tranche releases of the very fine Pape Clement which Galloni said 'exudes class' – now available at GBP 895 – and the highly-rated Montrose at GBP 1475 which left Neal Martin commenting: 'it is a disarmingly and hauntingly beautiful 2016'.

Always a huge BI favourite and another show-stopping Pomerol in 2016, L’Eglise Clinet has been released this morning at GBP 2740. This is the highest scoring Pomerol from The Wine Advocate in 2016, with Neal Martin awarding a princely 97-99pts. The 2016 vintage is a true reflection of proprietor Denis Durantou's effort and intellect - he is the master of tannin management with Neal Martin saying “some of the finest tannins that you will encounter in Pomerol”. A truly magestic Pomerol.