2016 Lafon-Rochet, Clos Puy Arnaud, GPL, Pavie Macquin, Giscours, Malartic-Lagraviere, Chevalier, Cheval Blanc
When are the major releases going to happen? This is a question we've endeavoured to answer many times over the last few weeks. With the benefit of hindsight, we can now say: just before the Whit bank holiday Monday.
Baron Philippe de Rothschild fired the starting gun yesterday morning. We have the same number of cases of Mouton as last year and will be in touch with last year's buyers as soon as we can. After that came Troplong Mondot, an impressive wine with an equally impressive price tag. Then one of our favourite St-Estephes, Basile Tesseron's Lafon-Rochet. A lot of work's been done here in recent years. The vineyards border Lafite and Cos d'Estournel, and the team are really beginning to find their full potential:
'All the success of St-Estèphe in 2016 can be seen in Lafon-Rochet this year, where the 30mm of rain on 13th September and 13mm on 8th October, with nothing in between, allowed the clay, limestone and gravel soils to fully ripen the grapes. Owner Basile Tesseron says he had never seen such maturity in his Cabernet Sauvignons, and certainly we have hugely intense aromatics from the first nose. The palate features finessed and fleshed out mouthwatering black fruits making it hard not to love this. Tasted three times in total, and every time it stood out. Blend of 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot aged in 30% new oak. 95 points' - Jane Anson, decanter.com
Then Clos Puy Arnaud, a biodynamic Cotes de Castillon which has become one of our favourite drinking Bordeaux over the past few vintages. If you've never tried it, give it a go - we will shortly have stock of the 2014 arriving at Vinotheque.
Yesterday afternoon came one of the most popular wines of Pauillac, a wine that rivals its neighbouring first growths in some vintages - not to mention the adjacent property of Basile Tesseron's uncle. Grand-Puy-Lacoste is family-owned and run (and lived in) by Xavier Borie and his wife and children, a fact very much evident in the loving care and attention to detail. The 2016 should rival the greatest GPLs of recent decades.
'The 2016 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is a blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon and 21% Merlot that matured in 75% new oak. It has 13.3% alcohol this year. It has an extraordinarily pure bouquet with blackberry, briary, touches of pencil shaving and cedar aromas--quintessential Grand-Puy-Lacoste, basically. The palate is medium-bodied with very fine tannin. Gone are the days when this Pauillac was as hard as nails for the first decade. The tannins are nowadays much finer and the acidity lends this tension and plenty of freshness. There is an effortless quality to this Pauillac with wonderful length and such finesse on the finish that you immediately want to go back and re-taste it. Like so many others, this improved with aeration, gaining ever more harmony and precision. What a brilliant wine. It is classic Pauillac to its core. 95-97 points'- Neal Martin, robertparker.com
A torrent of activity this morning: the outstanding St-Emilion Pavie Macquin managed by Nicolas Thienpont; the accomplished and highly rated Margaux, Giscours; the vastly improved but still good value Malartic-Lagraviere; the irrepressible and inimitable Oliver Bernard's Domaine de Chevalier; and the LVMH group's never knowingly oversold Cheval Blanc.
And yes, there was Rauzan-Segla and Canon. We are still battling for stock but I'm afraid we are now unlikely to secure even the same volume of either wine as last year. We are contacting previous buyers and hope to be able to fulfil most of the pre-orders but are sorry to say that there will be none for general sale. Still, there are plenty of fantastic alternatives to see us through Le Lundi de Pentecote. /AR
Offered subject to remaining unsold; available 2019
