LE DRAGON DE QUINTUS
2016 Grand Cru Saint Emilion
90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc. A sweetly juicy style, fleshy, supple - rather a joy - plenty of acidity to enliven the sweet berry fruit. Drinking range: 2023 - 2033 Rating: 89-91 L&S (Apr 2017)
* 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.
Darker cherry and earthier notes emerge from the 2016 Le Dragon de Quintus, a medium-bodied, ripe, impressive second wine that has good sweetness of fruit as well as purity. It plays in the more elegant style of the vintage and is perfect for drinking over the coming decade. Drinking range: 2019 - 2029 Rating: 90 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (Feb 2019)
The 2016 Le Dragon de Quintus is a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc that was picked between 3 and 20 October. I found that aromatics tightly wound and a little unresponsive when I tasted it at Haut-Brion, though I managed to coax blackcurrant and bilberry scents, a touch of pressed flowers with time. I would like to see more vigor once in bottle. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin: blackberry mingling with white pepper and cloves, nicely balanced with commendable presence on the grainy finish. Hopefully the aromatics will wake up with time in barrel and perhaps 12-18 months in bottle. Drinking range: 2020 - 2028 Rating: 89-91 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Apr 2017)
90% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc. Picked up to 20 October. Bright crimson. Fresh and fragrant on the nose with great suavity. Very poised. Drinking range: 2024 - 2032 Rating: 16.5+ Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2017)
A salty and minerally red with plums, leaves and tobacco and lots of blackberries. Medium to full body, firm and silky tannins and a crisp finish. Second wine of Quintus. Rating: 92-93 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2017)
A charmingly fresh and juicy wine from a vintage they say, 'we didn't see coming'. Well controlled extraction, finessed and nicely elongated, showing soft tannins with some cocoa dusting. Extremely drinkable. 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, representing 29% of production, with 41% to the grand vin and 32% to a third wine, St-Émilion de Quintus. Drinking range: 2025 - 2038 Rating: 89 Jane Anson, Decanter (Apr 2017)
The 2016 Le Dragon de Quintus is a gorgeous second wine with the potential to develop into one of the sleepers of the vintage. The flavors are remarkably pure and precise; dark red cherry, raspberry, flowers and sweet spice give the Dragon unusual depth. A closing burst of floral and spice-infused freshness and lift makes it impossible to resist a second taste. Readers will have a hard time keeping their hands off this exemplary Saint-Émilion. Rating: 89-92 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2017)
The second wine at Quintus made up only 29% of the blend in 2016, as 30% was declassified altogether. This is a classic, plump, smooth, Right Bank Merlot with succulent red berry fruit, good texture, deftly integrated oak and a lift of acidity. Drinking range: 2020 - 2026 Rating: 91 Tim Atkin MW, www.timatkin.com (Apr 2017)
Château Quintus
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.