CHÂTEAU NÉNIN
2012 Pomerol
70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc. Far more intensity than the 'Fugue'. A tight weave thick with flavour and elegance too. Lots of volume. Bruno Rolland, the long-serving maître di chai at Las Cases where I tasted, thinks the new directeur technique, Mariette Vessière, has brought a 'feminine touch'. All I can say is that this is the most convincing Nénin since the Delons bought it in 1997. Rating: 93 L&S (Apr 2013)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
The 2012 Nénin, the present team's first vintage and picked over three weeks (21 September - 10 October), has an engaging nose with red berry fruit, black truffle and light loamy aromas. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp black fruit, iodine and soy notes. It's a little compact on the finish but shows decent freshness with a long, tarry finish. Give it another couple of years. Drinking range: 2023 - 2035 Rating: 90 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jan 2023)
The 2012 Nénin offers smudged, red berry fruit on the nose with pastille-like strawberry and morello cherries, though it does need more delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with a touch of salted liquorice on the entry, grainy in texture, modest depth with a liberal sprinkling of black pepper on the finish. This is a decent, mature Pomerol that should be broached in the next five to eight years. Tasted blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting. Drinking range: 2022 - 2032 Rating: 90 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Sept 2022)
Plenty of juicy raspberry, bilberry and blueberry fruits and liqourice root here, with pulses of minerality, showing momentum and character. The often-subdued character of young Nenin is beginning to melt away, and this is a good moment to begin drinking. Enjoyable persistency and the firm, architectural structure that makes Nenin such a standout Pomerol. 3.62ph. 35% new oak. Rating: 94 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (Mar 2022)
The 2012 Nénin has a rustic, somewhat ferrous nose of brambly black fruit, warm gravel and undergrowth scents, forward and open-knit. The palate is medium-bodied with dry tannins, and rustic compared to the wine nowadays, leading to a saline but rather austere finish. It’s difficult to see how this will improve with bottle age. Drinking range: 2019 - 2024 Rating: 87 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Dec 2019)
The 2012 Nenin is round, soft and caressing, with lovely overall texture and body. Ripe dark cherry, plum, smoke, licorice and spices meld into the expressive finish. Drink this supple, open-knit Pomerol over the next handful of years. Both of these 2012s from Jean-Hubert Delon's Pomerol property are successful. Drinking range: 2016 - 2027 Rating: 90 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jan 2016)
Jean-Hubert Delon’s Pomerol cru has been steadily improving in recent vintages. Cropped at 35hl/ha, the Grand Vin is a blend of 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, picked over 8 days from 21st September until the 10th October. There is a lot of freshness on the nose with dark cherry, cassis and blueberry fruit that is lively and joyous. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp tannins. This is tightly wound, very taut with crisp acidity and a tense finish that is very appealing. Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2013)
(70% merlot and 30% cabernet franc; pH 3.7; 14.5% alcohol; 35h/h; 25% new oak): Good full ruby. Initially reduced nose reveals dark plum, soy sauce, sweet spices and flowers with aeration. Supple and suave on the palate, but with enough structure to provide backbone and energy to the red and black fruit flavors. Finishes long and creamy-smooth. I found this vintage of Nenin very promising, and perhaps more nuanced than usual. Rating: 89-91 Ian d'Agata, www.vinousmedia.com (May 2013)
Mariette Veyssière’s first vintage at this improving Pomerol property (owned by the Delons of Léoville-Las-Cases since 1987) has coincided with one of its best ever wines. A delicious wine with considerable ageing potential, plush fruit flavours of plum and blackberry, hints of mint, orange zest and liquorice and a sweet succulence that lingers on the palate. Drink: 2020-35 Rating: 94 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2013)
Dark crimson. Sweet and juicy. Harsh finish. But very dramatic start. Very pointed and direct. Very chewy tannins on the end. 2018 - 2028. Rating: 16.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2013)
Powerful structure. Lots of fruit and freshness. Will need time. 17.25/20pts ( 90+/100pts) Drink: 2020 - 2030. Rating: 17.25 James Lawther MW, decanter.com (Apr 2013)
Rating: 18 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Apr 2013)
Still has some toast to absorb, but the core of plum, blackberry and boysenberry fruit is ripe and vivid, with a mouthwatering anise note and well-integrated acidity on the finish. This has the stuffing to stretch out in the cellar despite a slightly austere edge to the structure. Rating: 90-93 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2013)
Château Nénin
Two things make Château Nenin standout from the rest of Pomerol – at 32ha it is considerably larger than most in in this crowded appellation; and Nenin has a real bona fide 19th Century château at its core rather than the more usual small shed. Infact it appears more along the lines of something one might find in the Haut-Médoc which is perhaps fitting as, since 1987, it has been in common ownership with Château Potensac and the great Saint Julien estate of Château Leoville Las Cases. As one might expect with such a noble stable-mate, quality has advanced rapidly in line with a lot of healthy investment in the estate. The vineyards are planted with 78% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon with an average age of around 30 years. The second wine is Fugue de Nenin.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those of the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do call us, but see the 'practical notes' below.
Ordering
Prices are per case as listed 'in bond London'.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment from you to buy the wines you order on release, subject to the price being below the upper price of the estimated band on our website. You may also set your own upper price limit, lower or higher than ours. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability. Providing this firm commitment to us effectively gives you priority.
Wines listed on the website (after any pre-orders and allocations have been fulfilled) can be ordered in the usual way via the website order form or by email or telephone 020 7221 1982, always subject to stock remaining.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are contractually binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of the confirmation date, apart from pre-orders which are binding if the release price is below the top estimate or other price you have set.
Invoices are raised at the In Bond price, excluding any duty and VAT which will become payable at the prevailing rates on arrival of the wine if required duty paid.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or credit transfer. We reserve the right to charge 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £1000, orders below this total will be charged £16.50+ VAT when the wine invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery for 2016 Bordeaux primeurs will probably be completed by October 2019, but we make no guarantee as to specific delivery times, and some of the Sauternes may be later.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes) for immediate payment. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option, but do please note that confirmed orders are still binding as above even if the final invoice has not been issued.
When the wine is shipped, unless previously specified we will assume that delivery is to be to bonded storage with Elephant Storage, but in any case, we will contact you requesting any alternative instructions. If you have another bonded delivery address you would like the wine to go to, please tell us at the time of ordering. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue invoices at the rates prevailing at the time for the excise duty (currently £25.98 per case) and the VAT (currently at 20%) on the total of the wine cost and the duty.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the bottle size you want. Even if a wine is only listed in one size, you can order any bottle or case size you want if the property supplies it, but you must order the case/bottle size you require and check that the correct size has been invoiced.
Additional charges are as follows:-
- +£15 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£15 per case of 6 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£35 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£45 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.