By Charles Lea on 04/05/2012
Château Tronquoy-Lalande & Château La Tour Carnet It is no particular secret that Robert Parker tends to like the lush, ripe, dense, sweet style wines like La Tour Carnet made by M. Magrez, (who also owns Pape Clement, and many others) while some 'old school English' have been rather shocked by them.
By Charles Lea on 03/05/2012
If Beychevelle had any other label on it I would not even consider offering it. Down 15 or so % on the 2010 price, and frankly the least interesting (as a wine) of all the Cru Classé Saint Juliens.
By Charles Lea on 02/05/2012
Bordeaux 2011 - Labégorce, Du Tertre, Monbrison, 1st Vintage of Mauvesin Barton So, Robert Parker's notes and those of Neal Martin are published (on www.
By Patrick Sandeman on 01/05/2012
May Day, it's raining again and with forecasters predicting yet another wet month ahead of us, surely this must already the wettest drought on record? It certainly feels like it.
By Charles Lea on 25/04/2012
Out this morning is our perennial value buy Les Ormes de Pez, produced by the same team as Lynch Bages and consistently punching above its Cru Bourgeois status - buy this and not Chasse Spleen, please. As I say every year, stick it away in magnums for dinner parties or weddings or whatever in ten+ years time.
By Charles Lea on 24/04/2012
Sociando Mallet coming out this morning, critically at a price below any other vintage on the market. This afternoon we have Chasse Speen, normally a popular primeur buy, but it is barely below the price of the 2010.
By Charles Lea on 18/04/2012
Today sees the release of Château Cos d'Estournel and Pagodes, it's second wine, Goulée, the Médoc made by the Cos team, as well as the Pomerol, Château Gazin. Jean-Guillaume Prats has made a substantial effort on the price of Cos, which is down from €190 last year to €108 - to UK merchants.
By Charles Lea on 16/04/2012
Bordeaux 2011 - around a £tenner, and one a bit more Below is a short list of wines selected from those so far on the market which seem to me to offer the 'no-brainer' bit of this (and any other) vintage.
By Charles Lea on 13/04/2012
Pierre Taïx of La Mauriane in Puisseguin Saint Emilion told us that after the rain at the end of August the vines started to grow again, and that this growth resulted in dry sap tannins in the grapes. Harvest had to be left for at least another ten days for the tannins to polymerize and the grapes re-concentrate.