2014 Bordeaux : Talbot, Chasse Spleen, Guiraud, Troplong Mondot

by Charles Lea

This morning – where France is not on holiday – the 2014 releases continue. The big one is Château Talbot 2014 (£290). With vintages like 2008 and even 2007 trading above £360 a case in bond, the release price of does offer a decent discount if you have somewhere to put it on arrival. We liked the wine, although the balance of all notes suggests a wine that maybe quite a firm style. As we repeat every year, there’s a lot of Château Talbot, and they do tend to release a lot of it at once, but once people start drinking it, it does disappear quite quickly and the price does rise. This means it fulfils the criteria of a reasonable en primeur buy – if you are fan there’s no harm putting some away now.

Château Chasse Spleen 2014 is out at £170. Notes a bit mixed, but both we and Neal Martin (90-92) liked this, and it is in your cellar under £20 a bottle including duty and VAT at current levels.

The excellent Sauternes, Château Guiraud 2014 is out at £295. Although well-rated, and at a price that seems quite reasonable for a wine with a 93-95 rating from the Wine Advocate, there are other vintages around for similar or slightly lower prices. All the same, if you enjoy these wines, think of adding a case of six bottles of twelve halves. At L&S all are at the same pro-rata price (£147.50 for six bottles or 12 halves).

Also out this morning is Château Troplong Mondot 2014 at £560. It is hard to make a case for this as a primeur buy at this level.