It ain't over till the… oh, wait
A Bordeaux en primeur campaign can be a difficult thing to get to grips with. There are lulls when the only wines to release are ones you haven't heard of, then rapid-fire volleys of familiar wines releasing at the same time but wildly different price points. Some wines seem to flip straight to 'sold out' without asking, though they may not be the ones that did so last year. None of them will be available for delivery for two years. The end of the campaign (marked yesterday by the release of the Thienpont wine Le Pin) is an excellent moment to take stock, and note that there are some very good wines still available.
From St-Estephe, Meyney and Capbern have terroir as good as the classed growths around them. Meyney's vineyards border Montrose, and it does a fine impression of the illustrious neighbour. Capbern has long been a wine trade insider's secret, now it enjoys the expertise of the Calon-Segur winemaking team. From Pauillac, Pontet-Canet is one of the stars of the vintage, and is Lisa Perrotti-Brown's highest-scoring wine in all the Medoc, outside first growths Mouton and Margaux. We also have some availability left on the classics Lynch-Bages and Batailley. Both Gloria and St-Pierre capture the real success of St-Julien in 2020. From Margaux, Angludet is as good a proposition as ever, d`Issan has transformed itself, and Alter Ego de Palmer is a polished beauty from a perfectionist stable. And south of the city of Bordeaux, Malartic-Lagraviere has moved from being an under-performing estate to one of the most admired in Pessac-Leognan. Petit Smith-Haut-Lafitte captures some of the grandeur that leads to its parent wine being talked about as a wine of the vintage. And for anyone who loves Bordeaux blanc, there can't be a better proposition than Latour-Martillac Blanc, Neal Martin's 'Hidden gem', which clocks in at an impressive 93-95 points.
Across the estuary, there are some great right bank picks to be had. Laroque is a serious and classically-styled St-Emilion, built to last. From prime terroir in the heart of the St-Emilion plateau, Le Prieure is a new addition to the Calon-Segur stable, and is definitely one to watch. From neighbouring Pomerol, it's last call for our few remaining cases of what Neal Martin thinks 'might well be the finest Feytit-Clinet to date'. There might even be a case of Gazin left at the time you see this. Thank you for reading. Same time next year? /NT
Offered subject to remaining unsold; for shipment Spring 2023
