CHÂTEAU DUHART MILON ROTHSCHILD
2018 4ème Cru Classé Pauillac
This is a very grand Duhart. There's a great deal of tannic structure but the dense blackcurrent and blackberry fruit stands up to it. You sense that signature mineral coolness but there's also an attractive gloss to the fruit. This is a big wine and it will need a lot of time but it shows great potential. Drinking range: 2026 - 2045L&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.
On slightly cooler soils that its sibling Lafite Rothschild and often a little austere in its early years, in 2018 you will find a more generous Duhard Milon, with velvety tannins and plenty of mid palate generosity, helped by blackberry and damson fruits, and touches of chocolate shavings and spicy cigar box, still with the slate and pencil lead character so typical of the property. Great quality, will age well. 3.84ph, 37.5hl/h yield. Drinking range: 2026 - 2040 Rating: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter (Oct 2021)
Just as it was from barrel, the 2018 Duhart-Milon is a real powerhouse. Black cherry, gravel, spice, espresso and savory herbs infuse the 2018 with notable depth and power. A brooding, virile wine, the Duhart-Milon packs a serious punch. I would give it a few years to soften. The 2018 has really come together since en primeur. In fact, the bottled wine bears little semblance to the en primeur sample, which is a very good thing. There is real density and weight here, with all of the natural richness of the year. Drinking range: 2026 - 2043 Rating: 94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Mar 2021)
Sweet berries and cherries on the nose with sweet tobacco, lead pencil and blackcurrants. It’s full-bodied and very rich with layers of fruit and creamy tannins intertwined. Extremely long and creamy. Great Duhart. Try after 2026. Rating: 96 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2021)
Sweet berries and cherries on the nose with sweet tobacco, lead pencil and blackcurrants. It’s full-bodied and very rich with layers of fruit and creamy tannins intertwined. Extremely long and creamy. Great Duhart. Drinking range: 2026 - Rating: 96 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Jan 2021)
The 2018 Duhart-Milon was helped by light rain on August 28 and September 5 that nudged ripening back on track after a period of drought. It has a very well-defined bouquet of blackberry, bilberry, oyster shells and tobacco, focused and intense. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, but there is real backbone and a wonderful saline finish. Lovely build here, and certainly more substantial than the previous vintage. This is a Duhart-Milon back on form. Drinking range: 2024 - 2045 Rating: 92-94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Nov 2019)
The 2018 Château Duhart-Milon checks in as a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot that hit 14% alcohol. Beautiful black currants, smoked earth, chocolate, and damp earth notes flow to a medium to full-bodied, incredibly elegant Duhart-Milon that has ultra-fine tannins, a weightless texture, terrific balance, and a great finish. Seemingly all about finesse and elegance, it builds nicely on the palate and has a great finish. It should match or exceed the brilliant 2009. Rating: 94-96 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2019)
The 2018 Duhart-Milon is composed of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon and 35% Merlot, with the Cabernet Sauvignon harvested September 25 to October 4 and the Merlot harvested September 17-25, and it has 14% alcohol. Deep garnet-purple colored, it leaps from the glass with exuberant notes of Black Forest cake, plum preserves and crème de cassis with hints of spice cake, woodsmoke, potpourri and eucalyptus. Full-bodied, rich and laden with layers of black fruit preserves and spices, it has a velvety texture and just enough freshness, finishing long. Very impressive—the densest, most opulent Duhart I have tasted! Rating: 93-95 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2019)
Black core with barely a rim. So wonderfully scented, like the Clerc Milon. Blackcurrant tea, pure cassis, almost floral, but so pretty. Firm and dry but super-refined on the palate, dry tannic finesse. Finely balanced for the long term. Dark and savoury and full of such refined elegance and dark finesse. A beauty. Drinking range: 2028 - 2038 Rating: 17.5 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2019)
This is a very powerful Duhart with blackcurrant and blackberry character. Lots of graphite and black tea. Full-bodied and muscular with lots of formed muscles and great length. Could be best ever? Rating: 95-96 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2019)
The blend in this vintage is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, picked between September 25th and October 4th, and 35% Merlot, picked between September 17th and the 25th, with a yield of 38 hl/ha. The alcohol level is 14%. This has a cool style on the nose, with gently peppered fruit wrapped in an elegant jacket of tightly grained oak. The palate is finely poised, expressive, open, not shy in any way, with a rich seam of peppery energy, and lots of oaky cinnamon and toast. A very elegant style here, with flavours of grilled red cherry dusted with black pepper, and plenty of vibrant energy. An impressive composition, broad and polished, sinewy and finely composed, with a wealth of tightly knit and velvety tannic grip running through to the finish, still wrapped up in grilled cherry flavours and an oaky sinew. The length is all swirling energy. A very composed, bright and cool style to Duhart-Milon this year, long with silky tannins, and showing great potential. Rating: 93-95 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2019)
Silky tannins hide a firm structure that is serious and dense. The wine has a ripe blackberry flavor that dominates the firm tannins, but the lasting acidity leaves plenty of room for long-term aging. Rating: 94 Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast www.winemag.com (Apr 2019)
Château Duhart Milon
Pauillac Quatrième cru 1855 Château Duhart Milon is owned by its very illustrious neighbour Château Lafite-Rothschild, with whom it shares a vineyard management and wine making team. Duhart is said to have been a pirate in the service of Loius XV who settled in the Médoc in his retirement. Indeed, the "pirate's house" stood by the Gironde until the 1950's and is pictured on the label. His vineyard was united with Mandavy-Milon in the 1830's by the Castéja family. Earning 4th Growth status was a high point for Duhart-Milon with the next 100+ years being a period of some decline. Vineyards were sold off (notably to the Batailleys) and the wines declined considerably in quality. By the time Baron Eric de Rothschild bought Duhart-Milon in 1962 it was in a very sorry state with barely 17ha under vine. Rothschild ownership saw the vineyards completely re-planted and the chais (and a chais is all there is, there never has been an actual château) renovated. Today the wines are made with the same meticulous care as Lafite, but sell at a fraction of the price, making Duhart-Milon a bit of a bargain. Château Duhart-Milon sits immediately west/inland of Château Lafite-Rothschild, facing Château Lafon-Rochet across the Jalle du Breuil in Saint Estèphe. The 73ha of vineyard are planted with 67% Cabernet Sauvignon and 33% Merlot. The Grand Vin is aged in oak barrels made by the Rothschild cooperage for up to 18 months. The second wine is called Moulin de Duhart, and a lighter styled third wine called Baron de Milon.
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 2023 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2026. 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 2026. 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.