CHÂTEAU TALBOT
2014 4ème Cru Classé Saint Julien
Very impressive on the attack, quite bright fruit with lovely concentration. Lots of lifted red plum and a creamy spicy weight. Oak presence does build towards the finish, but everything is in place for a longish future. 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot. Rating: 91-92 L&S (Apr 2015)
* 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 2014 Talbot has a pastille-like purity on the nose: black cherries, raspberry, brown spices and a touch of leather. The palate is medium-bodied with a fleshy opening, fine acidity and a bit chewy with a slightly heady, alcoholic finish that you would equate to a warmer growing season. Maybe trying too hard? It feels like a wine that doesn't know what it wants to be and stylistically falls between the cracks. Tasted blind at the Southwold 10-Year-On tasting. Drinking range: 2024 - 2036 Rating: 89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2024)
62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 6% Petit Verdot. Crimson hue. Dense and dark with a floral iris-note on the nose. Still youthful and austere. Solid and reserved on the palate with a powerful tannic frame. Big and muscular and built to age but lacks a little charm. (JL) 13.5% Drinking range: 2024 - 2040 Rating: 16.5 James Lawther MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2022)
The 2014 Talbot has a ripe and generous bouquet with black cherries, boysenberry and light violet petal aromas that gain intensity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chewy and chunky tannin, good weight in the mouth if just missing the finesse of its peers towards the finish. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. Drinking range: 2020 - 2035 Rating: 90 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2018)
Very dark and slightly evolved-looking. Dense and for the moment somewhat impenetrable but promising. Lots of life in there. Somewhat inky for the moment. But gorgeous. Drinking range: 2024 - 2044 Rating: 17.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Feb 2018)
The 2014 Talbot is soft, silky and wonderfully nuanced on the palate. Much more refined from bottle than it was from barrel, the 2014 has moved toward greater finesse over the last two years. This is a lovely effort. Lifted rose petal and lavender notes add closing nuance. The blend is 62 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 35 % Merlot and 6 % Petit Verdot. Tasted two times. Drinking range: 2019 - 2034 Rating: 94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2017)
The Château Talbot 2014 has a simple bouquet that is missing the sophistication and nuance that is a consistent in Saint Julien wines this year. Aerating the glass for 5 minutes does seem to evolve more delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with chalky tannin. There is a nice line of acidity here, a little hardness towards the finish but an attractive spicy aftertaste that lingers in the mouth. I can envisage this to be a more austere Saint Julien but if it gains flesh during élevage it could be an interesting proposition. Drinking range: 2018 - 2035 Rating: 89 - 91+ Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2015)
Ample and broad on the palate, the 2014 Talbot captures the essence of the vintage with an enticing mélange of fresh blue and purplish-hued fruits. Graphite, lavender, mint and sweet spices waft from the glass as the 2014 gradually opens up. At times, Talbot is muscular and powerful, while at other moments it comes across as much more feminine. It is precisely those contrasts that make the 2014 so intriguing. Polished, silky tannins wrap around the super-inviting finish. The 2014 was vinified in cement and steel, with pump overs only. The blend is 62% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot, while new oak is around 50%. Tasted twice. Rating: 92-95 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2015)
Dark purplish crimson. Sweet, almost bonbon nose. But a bit short of juice on the palate. Hard work and drying on the end. May come right eventually but for the moment it is much more obdurate than its neighbours. Drinking range: 2024 - 2032 Rating: 16+ Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2015)
The nose is quite tight the start of the palate firm fresh but a bit closed. The touch of sweetness in the middle is overtaken by freshness the finish lacks richness is quite short and tending to dry. Drinking range: 2025 - 2036 Rating: 86-89 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk (Apr 2015)
There's usually a fair bit of Talbot to go round, given its status as one of the largest vineyard holders in the commune. This is quite a backward wine, with tannins that need at least a decade to soften in bottle, supported by cigarbox and blackberry fruit and a fresh, blackcurrant leaf lift. Drinking range: 2025 - 2032 Rating: 93 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2015)
This is really powerful with excellent depth of fruit and richness. Spices, blueberries and lightly toasted oak now. But it shows really serious structure. Best Talbot in years, maybe decades. Rating: 94-95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2015)
Château Talbot
St Julien Quatrième cru 1855
John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury was sent by King Henry VI to re-impose some English rule on this troublesome part of his Kingdom, but ended up being killed at the Battle of Castillon in 1453. Quite what connection he had with this particular bit of St Julien is unknown but, at least as far back as the 17th Century, the large estate in the centre of the appellation has been known as Château Talbot and it has generally been held that it was named for said John Talbot.
Désiré Cordier bought Talbot in 1917 and it is still in the hands of the Cordier family.
Sitting right in the middle of St Julien, surrounded by the great names of the appellation, and at 107ha of vineyard, Château Talbot is hard to miss. The vineyards are planted to 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 3% Petit Verdot. Fermentation takes place in a combination of traditional wooden vats and modern stainless steel, with the Grand Vin spending 14 months in oak (50%-60% new).
There is a second wine named in honour of John Talbot, who's local title was Connétable Talbot.
With such big production and with an easy name to read and remember in the English-speaking market, Château Talbot has a healthy following and reliable reputation. It is a reputation that Talbot, by and large, lives up to with well-flavoured structured 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.