CLOS MANOU
2015 Médoc
69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Another terrific showing from Stéphane Dief's 18 hectare jewel of a property in Saint Christoly. Dark colour, rich and round with ripe Cabernet fruit, joyously expressive with cherry and cassis and harmonious all through the long, pretty fruit-filled finish on fine, tightening tannins. Tasted several times, once at the property, always with similar notes. Recommended. Rating: 90-91 L&S (Apr 2016)
* 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 2015 Clos Manou is sumptuous, racy wine to drink now and over the next few years. Black cherry, bittersweet chocolate, new leather and spice infuse this succulent, racy wine, which is better from bottle than it was from barrel. Drinking range: 2018 - 2023 Rating: 88 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2018)
The 2015 Clos Manou is a blend of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc with partial concrete egg aging. It has a dense but "distant" bouquet that feels rather static compared to its peers at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly chewy tannin, perhaps rustic in style, albeit with satisfying depth and impressive grip on the finish. The palate goes some way to compensating for the aromatics, so let's see what happens in barrel. Drink: 2018 - 2030 Rating: 87-89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
Good freshness and very good middle palate. A fine wine of depth and character. Drinking range: 2019 - 2027 Rating: 88 Steven Spurrier (Apr 2016)
The 2015 Clos Manou offers lovely up-front intensity, but then loses some of its persistence on the mid palate as the tannins dry out. The 2015 is solid, but not exciting. The blend is approximately 69% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 9% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc Rating: 86-88 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2016)
Bright and fruity with blueberry and mineral aromas and flavors. Very minerally. Full and tangy. Firm tannins. Lively finish. Serious energy here. Rating: 91-92 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Mar 2016)
Clos Manou
"We turned our garage into a makeshift wine cellar and made our first wine in 1998.” Françoise and Stéphane Dief. Which sounds impossibly idyllic! In a region of grand estates with long complicated histories the arrivistes of Clos Manou are a refreshing change. Starting with just .12ha of vines, the Diefs have patiently spent 15 years building their holding up to 18ha, along the way absorbing the obscure Cru Bourgeois of Château Cantegrive. The estate may be 'new' but amongst their holdings are Bordeaux’s oldest vines – they have a small pre-phylloxera parcel from the 1850’s. The estate is centred on the village of Saint-Christoly de Médoc in the increasingly popular area of the Haut-Médoc to the north of Saint Estèphe. All of Clos Manou’s vineyards are high-density plantings – some 10 000 vines per hectare – and all are converted to organic farming as soon as is practical. Grape variety proportions are 45% each Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, with 6% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot. The first wine is aged in 100% new wood. The second wine is called Petit Manou.
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.