This has been an exciting week for en-primeur releases, with a number of the Bordeaux châteaux hitting the mark in terms of their pricing.
Two of the buys of the vintage played their hand on Wednesday: Ch. Canon and Ch. Rauzan-Ségla. At GBP 375 per dozen in bond both deserve a place in every cellar. Ch. Canon was our highest-scoring St Emilion after what is a brilliant Cheval Blanc, and Rauzan-Ségla our favourite Margaux after Margaux itself.
The first growths have got their pricing right in 2014. We still have limited stocks of Haut-Brion. Rather than sit on the first tranche of Lafite we have allocated it to customers who pre-ordered and we expect a second tranche next week. Having sold out at opening price, small parcels of Mouton-Rothschild are popping up: please do let us know if you would like a case or two. Likewise, if the superlative 2014 Ch. Margaux appeals we will do our best to source it for you.
For those looking for a little quantity and some large formats we propose a full barrel, or 225 litres, of the reliably excellent Ch. Batailley. Large formats are one of the benefits of en-primeur and can be arranged for all of the wines that we are offering.
Les Carmes Haut-Brion is something of a new wine: massive investment at this property (that was once part of Haut-Brion itself) is paying dividends and this could well be a wine to follow. All of the wines from Denis Durantou, from Eglise-Clinet to La Chenade are also worthy of your attention: we cannot recommend them highly enough.
First growths aside, our best-sellers so far are Lynch-Bages & Rauzan-Ségla. There are still plenty more to come, and the wines that we are most excited about are Grand-Puy-Lacoste and Pichon-Lalande. The former could just be one of the value buys of the vintage – a real cellar-filler, whilst the latter is easily one of the wines of the vintage and a very special wine indeed. Other F+R picks that have yet to release are Léoville-Lascases, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Montrose, Feytit-Clinet and Smith-Haut-Lafitte.
The past fortnight has shown us two things: there is a strong appetite for Bordeaux at the right price – the wines that have sold have sold very well. And 2014 is clearly a vintage to buy, perhaps even to go long on, when the price is right (remember 2004 Bordeaux? Look at the prices now.)
