CLOS DU MARQUIS
2012 Saint Julien
92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc. Just lovely! Cabernet that is so pure, so perfectly harmonious and ripe with no excess. Streamlined tannins of great purity. There is real direction here, and length too. Rating: 91 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 Clos du Marquis has more horsepower on the nose compared to the 2012 Talbot. The fruit is slightly darker, though the oak is well-integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with a lightly spiced entry, granular in texture, a touch of white pepper sprinkled over the red fruit with just a very slight but welcome bitterness on the finish that lends it edge. Tasted twice with consistent notes. Drinking range: 2022 - 2036 Rating: 91 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Sept 2022)
Cedar and raspberry, this is an attractive Clos de Marquis that is in a sweet spot for drinking. Unfussy and earthy, a few hard tannins that catch on the finish, but plenty to recommend. An unusually high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon lends extra interest. Rating: 89 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (Mar 2022)
Cedar and raspberry, this is an attractive Clos du Marquis that is in a sweet spot for drinking. Unfussy and earthy, a few hard tannins that catch on the finish, but plenty to recommend. An unusually high proportion of Cabernet Sauvignon lends extra interest. Drinking range: 2022 - 2034 Rating: 89 Jane Anson, Decanter (Mar 2022)
The 2012 Clos du Marquis is quite powerful in this vintage, with a larger amount of Cabernet Sauvignon than is the norm. There is good depth and persistence throughout, even if the 2012 is a bit lacking in excitement that could have taken it up another notch or two. The 2012 is 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc. This is a solid effort from Jean-Hubert Delon's Clos du Marquis, the sister Saint-Julien property to Léoville-Las-Cases. Drinking range: 2016 - 2030 Rating: 90 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jan 2016)
The Clos du Marquis is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc cropped at 33hl/ha and matured in 40% new oak. It has a tobacco-scented bouquet of blackberry and a touch of blueberry fruit. It is tightly coiled compared to recent vintages. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins. There is good density of fruit here with plenty of blackcurrant and raspberry fruit, although it is presently rigid and conservative towards the finish. Fine. Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2013)
(92% cabernet sauvignon, 6% merlot and 2% cabernet franc; 5.3 g/l total acidity; 3.65 pH; IPT 65; 13.5% alcohol; 33 h/h yield; 40% new oak): Bright ruby. Aromas of fresh blackcurrant, spicy minerals and violet. Then sweeter in the mouth, with an element of sweet spices complicating raspberry and cassis flavors. Harmonious acidity and silky, persistent tannins are the hallmark of yet another great wine from Jean-Hubert Delon in 2012. It's also a unique version of Clos du Marquis with this much cabernet sauvignon, though ever since the creation of LLC's true second wine, Le Petit Lion (which now gets most of the estate's lesser merlot fruit), the cabernet sauvignon percentage has steadily increased in Clos du Marquis. Rating: 88-90 Ian d'Agata, www.vinousmedia.com (May 2013)
The wine is pure with lots of creme de cassis, crushed rock and vanillin characteristics in its long, medium to full-bodied personality. Given the fact that this vineyard was once part of the larger Leoville Las Cases estate, it is no surprise that it is similar to its more famous as well as more expensive cousin. A strong effort in this vintage, it should drink well for 15-20 years. A brilliant effort from Jean-Hubert Delon, Clos du Marquis is now an entirely separate estate from Leoville Las Cases and its second wine, Le Petit Lion. The outstanding 2012 Clos du Marquis is a blend of 92% Cabernet Sauvignon and the rest Merlot and Cabernet Franc and came in at 13.5% natural alcohol. About 50% new oak is used. 2013 - 2033 Rating: 91-93 Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate, www.RobertParker.com (Apr 2013)
Winemaker Bruno Rolland is as adept at handling difficult vintages as he is at expressing great ones. This is no shrinking violet, but it’s packed with old vine concentration. It’s backward and quite tannic at the moment, but there’s focus, freshness and a lot of tightly wound fruit lurking in the background. Drink: 2022-35. Rating: 93 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2013)
Dense colour, floral richness and density from 92% Cabernet Sauvignon fruit, very fine St-Julien. Drink: 2017 - 2032. Rating: 17.5 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2013)
Rating: 18 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Apr 2013)
Light but lively, with damson plum and cherry fruit, showing a lightly briary edge on the finish. Rating: 88-91 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Apr 2013)
Château Léoville Las Cases
St Julien Deuxième cru 1855 One of the leading "super-seconds" - a second growth chateau who's wines rival, in terms of quality and often price, the fabled First Growths of the Haut-Médoc. Before the Revolution, the Leoville estate was one of the largest and grandest in the region. At the time, it was in the aristrocratic ownership of the family of the Marquis de Las-Cases-Beauvoir. Unsurprisingly, the Marquis had to flee. To avoid Leoville being seized, the family decided to sell up but the complicated ownership of the estate, which was split between siblings, prevented the sale of Leoville as a whole and, in the end, only a small portion was sold off, to Hugh Barton, and this became Château Leoville Barton. The remainder of the estate came back to the Marquis' family when his son, Pierre-Jean, inherited most of Leoville, the only exception being a small portion inherited by his sister Jeanne. Jeanne's daughter married Baron Jean-Marie de Poyferré and, in 1840, this portion of the estate sheered off to become Château Leoville Poyferré. To stop further divisions among inheriting children, a holding company was founded to own Château Las Cases. Théophile Skawinski, who managed the estate, bought some shares which later passed to his son-in-law André Delon. The Delon family continued to buy share as they became available until, eventually, they became the owners of Château Leoville Las Cases. The bulk of Las Cases's vineyards - the Grand Clos - sit at the very northern end of St Julien, facing Château Latour across the Ruisseau de Juillac. The vines are planted to 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 13% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. The hand-picked grapes are fermented in an unusual array of wooden, stainless-steel and cement tanks. Wines spend 20 months in oak, with the proportion of new wood for the grand vin varying from 50% to 100% depending on the vintage. Château Leoville Las Cases have one of the most highly regarded "second wines" in Bordeaux - Clos du Marquis. The first vintage was in 1902, long predating most of its competitors. Its status as a true "second wine" is sometimes disputed, as there is a distinct Clos du Marquis vineyard, a little way to the west of the Grand Clos, although the cuvée does include some declassifications from the grand vin and fruit of younger vines. Its status as a "second wine" also belies the quality which exceeds many of the region's "first" wines.
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.