CHÂTEAU BEAUREGARD

2018 Pomerol

EN PRIMEUR

We really enjoyed the 2018 Beauregard. Dark fruit with hints of wood on the nose. Similar on the palate with the oak in a supporting role. Cool and focused. Medium bodied and very well balanced for the vintage. Buy this wine if you want to drink decent pomerol without spending piles. Drinking range: 2025 - 2040L&S (Apr 2019)

* 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 2018 Beauregard is crisp and focused on the nose of truffle-tinged black fruit flanked by sous-bois and freshly rolled tobacco; gentle but persuasive. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, quite tight and slightly angular in style. It is still rustic and a little rough-hewn compared to its peers, though it has charm and I appreciate the dash of black pepper on the aftertaste. Drinking range: 2023 - 2033 Rating: 88 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2021)

The 2018 Beauregard is forward, supple and very easy to like. Succulent red cherry, plum, mocha, espresso and new leather all wrap around the palate. This racy, opulent Pomerol is not especially complex, but it is wonderfully open knit and inviting. The new French oak is at the limit of being overpowering, but the wine's balance is solid. This tasty Pomerol is a terrific choice for drinking now and over the next 10-15 years. Drinking range: 2023 - 2035 Rating: 90 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Mar 2021)

Aromas of plums, orange peel, cedar and violets with hints of mushroom and light tar. It’s full-bodied with lots of extremely polished tannins that give the wine a very fine, velvety texture and lively, vivid length. Balanced is the word. Try after 2025. Rating: 94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2021)

The 2018 Château Beauregard is a deep, concentrated Pomerol that’s going to benefit from bottle age. Classic notes of dark fruits, toasted spiced, roasted herbs and cedar all give way to a medium to full-bodied 2018 that offers a big mid-palate, nicely integrated acidity, and ripe tannins. It’s a touch primordial, but it has class and balance and is going to come together beautifully in bottle. The blend of the 2018 is 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc. Rating: 91-93 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2019)

75% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Franc; 50% new oak. Barrel sample. Black core, purple rim. Elderberry and blueberry – thus both fresh and sweet. I don't know what has happened here but it is really not good on the palate: hard and bitter. Rating: 14 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2019)

Viticulture at Beauregard is organic, as at the sister property Smith Haut Lafitte, but Beauregard only lost about 15% of the crop to mildew. Composed of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc, the deep garnet-purple colored 2018 Beauregard develops slowly to reveal a core of blackberry compote, plum preserves and blueberry pie with touches of smoked meats, tobacco, baking spices, yeast extract and fragrant earth. Full, rich, velvety and packed with rich, expressive black fruit preserves, it has plenty of freshness, finishing long and spicy. Rating: 93-95 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2019)

Very pretty and refined with a lovely core of ripe fruit and chocolate. Hints of cedar. Medium body, fine tannins and a juicy finish. Rating: 93-94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2019)

This is 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc, the crop reduced by 15% by the mildew. The yield was 34 hl/ha, and the eventual alcohol is 14%. It has a rather pretty nose, elegant, with plenty of primary Cabernet character alongside the Merlot fruit, coming through as polished red cherry laced with a little tobacco-leaf freshness, and on a second sample there is a twist of reduction. The third and fourth samples showed best of all. The palate shows the same confident and yet elegant style, with a very precise and delicately drawn structure, overlaid with tobacco leaf, chalk dust and grilled red cherry fruits. It possesses a silky and refined texture, filled with ripe and polished grip, and a fine-boned peppery energy. Very charming, elegant and delightfully composed, with a tightly knit bed of tannin at its heart. Bright and perfumed, and rather more racy than the Beauregard of old. Rating: 92-94 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2019)

There is lots of density here but it shows a lovely supple side to the fruits with intense damson and black cherry alongside swirls of chocolate and a patisserie choux bun touch of gentle creaminess. A good job, and a wine that’s easy to approach with a build through the palate joined by layers of tannins that are a little deceptive. 3.77pH. Drinking range: 2026 - 2038 Rating: 92 Jane Anson, Decanter (Mar 2019)

Unusually for Pomerol, Château Beauregard has a rather fine château built in 1795 that they proudly display on the label. Rather than having a fine view – or beau regard – the estate is named after the Beauregard family who owned it in the 17th Century. Since acquisition by Vignobles-Foncier in 1991 the whole estate has been renovated, and all the Cabernet Sauvignon replaced with more suitable Merlot, and Beauregard has been set on an upward trajectory. The recent (2014) sale of the estate to the Moulin-Houzé family offers optimism for further improvement, not least because at the same time a minority share was taken by the Caithard family whose stewardship Château Smith Haut Lafitte has yielded great results. Sitting just east of the village of Catusseau, Beauregard is practically on the border with Saint Emilion and can boast Cheval Blanc as a near neighbour. The 17.5ha of vineyard are planted with 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc with the best vines being nearer the château on the Pomerol plateau and its more typical clay soil. The average age of the vines is around 35 years.

Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those on the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do contact our private client team via email or on 020 7018 0187.

Ordering

Prices are all in bond by the case size stated.

Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price is within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.

Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought-after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.

Confirmation

All orders will be confirmed by email and are binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of email confirmation. Pre-orders are not binding if the release price is above your upper price band.

Invoices are all raised at the in bond price (excluding any duty and VAT) which will become payable at the prevailing rates when the wines arrive in the UK, should you wish to take duty paid delivery.

Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We regret we cannot accept credit cards for en primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.

Delivery

  • Shipment to our bond (at 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 £500. Orders below this total will be charged an administration and handling fee of £16.50+ VAT when invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
  • Delivery of 2022 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2025. Delivery dates may vary as wines are shipped from Bordeaux at different times.

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). Immediate payment of invoices is then required by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option but please note that confirmed orders are still binding even if the final invoice has not yet been issued.

Please specify on your wishlist order form where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. If this is to a third-party bonded warehouse, please specify the relevant account details. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue a second invoice for duty and VAT at the prevailing rate when the wines are available for delivery.

Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.

One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the format you want. While most of our listings are for 75cl bottles, we can source wines in any format that is offered by the Château. Please note that format requests cannot be changed once wines have been invoiced. Additional charges for special formats do apply and are as follows:-

  • +£18.00 per case of 12 half-bottles
  • +£30.00 per case of 24 half-bottles
  • +£7.50 per case of 3 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
  • +£11.00 per case of 6 Magnums
  • +£45.00 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
  • +£60.00 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.

Storage Options:

Wines bought en primeur won't arrive in the UK until 2025. If you do not wish to take home delivery at that point, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our private client team for more information.