LE DRAGON DE QUINTUS

2014 Grand Cru Saint Emilion

EN PRIMEUR

77% Merlot, 23% Cabernet Franc. Very appetising nose of ripe fruit and this continues on the silky palate too. Impressive. Nicely restrained, good freshness for the vintage - Not wildly deep but very attractive drinking. Rating: 89 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 Dragon de Quintus has a slightly gawky nose, missing the cohesion of its peers at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin, classic in style with plenty of sous-bois and tobacco notes, gaining some flesh and fruité towards the more cohesive finish. Give this Deuxième Vin another year. Tasted blind at the annual Southwold tasting. Drinking range: 2019 - 2027 Rating: 88 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2018)

The 2014 Le Dragon de Quintus is quite lovely. Dark red cherry, plum, sweet spices and flowers open up in a bright, lifted wine that shows the more delicate side of St.-Emilion. The 2014 lacks a bit of mid-palate depth, but it is otherwise attractive and nicely balanced throughout. The blend is 77% Merlot and 23% Cabernet Franc. Tasted two times. Rating: 87-89 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (May 2015)

The Le Dragon de Quintus 2014, a blend of 77% Merlot and 23% Cabernet Franc, already sports an attractive bouquet, nicely defined with touches of blackcurrant winegum and lavender. The palate is medium-bodied with fine, slightly edgy tannins on the entry. Modest weight here, but smooth and harmonious in the mouth with a conservative and slightly saline finish. Enjoy over the next five or six years. Drinking range: 2017 - 2029 Rating: 87-89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2015)

Fresh and brambly. Acidity quite marked. Medium-bodied, crisp, sandy tannins on the finish. Drinking range: 2018 - 2022 Rating: 85+ James Lawther MW, decanter.com (Apr 2015)

Merlot 77% Cabernet Franc 23% Fresh red fruits the nose is quite light and perfumed and the start of the palate is light and bright. Sweet fruit gives more richness and depth in the middle but at the back there is raspberry and redcurrant freshness. Drinking range: 2017 - 2026 Rating: 86-89 Derek Smedley MW, www.dereksmedleymw.co.uk (Apr 2015)

Mid to pale crimson. Light and soft – very fruity and completely unlike the St-Émilion oaky norm! You could drink this tonight almost. Macerated sultanas and a hint of something floral. Drinking range: 2017 - 2022 Rating: 16 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2015)

The second wine from this rapidly improving property (under the same ownership as Haut-Brion since 2011) represented 29% of the production in 2014. It's a fine, well balanced effort with appealing perfume, good texture and deftly handled oak. The highish alcohol is balanced by a low pH. Drinking range: 2018 - 2026 Rating: 91 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2015)

Domaines Clarence Dillon (Haut Brion) bought, in 2011, what used to be Château Tertre Daugay, a Grand cru Classé Saint Emilion. The name was chosen following the Roman tradition of calling the fifth child Quintus. The property was originally about 16 hectares of vines on a promontory on the south-west corner of the Saint Emilion plateau, with vines on the limestone of the plateau itself and sloping down on all sides on clay over the limestone base, looking over the Dordogne valley.

In 2013, the Dillon family acquired Château L'Arrosée which they include in the production of Chateau Quintus. This has expanded the property to 28 hectares of vines on a gently sloping plateau 68 meters above sea level in the south west of Saint Emilion. Soil type varies from limestone in the north of the property, to clay and gravel in the south. Merlot represents 66% of the vines planted; Cabernet Franc (26%) and Cabernet Sauvignon (8%) make up the rest.

There are two wines, Château Quintus and its second wine 'Le Dragon de Quintus'.

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.