The Thienponts call time on 2019
Wednesday evening's release of the Thienpont wines L'If and Le Pin rang the bell for last orders in what has been a fast and furious, fun, surprise-filled and successful Bordeaux en primeur campaign. It is strange to think that as recently as late April we had no idea if there was even going to be a campaign; in the shadow of COVID-19, the talk was of postponing till the autumn, or even skipping this year altogether and knocking the en primeur calender back a year. Representations were made to the Bordelais to suggest this was not the time for big wine releases. But in the end, they went for it. And what a campaign it has been! The combination of a great vintage and some substantial and unexpected price decreases has given the campaign real momentum. Some surprising properties have sold out altogether - and yes, that did catch us out once or twice.
Which isn't to say we don't have any jewels left in the cabinet. We still have bits and pieces of many of the high-performing, classic classed growths. We have picked up second tranches of Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Lynch-Bages, which at one point we were forced to ration. We have good availability on the second wines from some top estates; wines like Alter Ego de Palmer, Pichon Comtesse Reserve and Marquis de Calon often bring a real taste of the grand vin at a fraction of the price. We have a couple of cases left of the two Thienpont wines Vieux Chateau Certan and L'If (the latter 'a drop-dead gorgeous beauty', as Antonio Galloni puts it, 'a wine of pure and total sophistication').
But if you have stayed out of the allocations scrum for Canon and Calon-Segur, why not look a little further afield? There are myriad properties on the rise, and value to be found in surprising places in Bordeaux. Berliquet abuts Canon, is under the same ownership, and is being made in a similarly classy, polished style. For years Cantenac-Brown languished in the doldrums, accumulating mediocre reviews and a worse reputation; now it's on a steep upward curve. On a sheer points-per-pounds scale, Fronsac property Dalem (£88/6, 93-95 NM) must be the best value in the region. We have a host more recommendations if you'd like to get in touch. Meanwhile, thank you for reading, and if you have found this campaign half as exciting and engaging as we have, then it has been time well spent. /NT
Offered subject to confirmation; for shipment 2022
