CHÂTEAU LE GAY
2018 Pomerol
Aromas of plums, violets and mushrooms with earthy notes. Fleshy and succulent texture to the full body with round, firm tannins and a salivating, savory finish. Very persistent. Opulent and reserved at the same time. Contrastive wine. Drink after 2025. Rating: 97 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2021)
* 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.
I loved the 2018 Château Le Gay from one of my go-to estates in Pomerol. The 2018 (a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc) has a lusty, sweet bouquet of pure crème de cassis and jammy blackberries intermixed with lots of spice and spring flower notes. Full-bodied, rounded, and flamboyantly textured on the palate, it stays perfectly balanced, has fabulous purity, and a great finish. It needs 4-5 years of bottle age and will keep for 20-25 years or more. Rating: 95-97 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2019)
Barrel sample. Black core. Dark, ripe and luscious fruit on the nose. Blackberry and elderberry compote, full on. A touch charry on the palate but the tannins unexpectedly gentle and rounded. Not sure how well this will age but quite seductive in that ripe roundness. Not my favourite style of wine but could give pleasure if it is yours. Drinking range: 2023 - 2028 Rating: 16 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2019)
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Le Gay opens with fragrant notes of lavender, oolong tea, baked plums and blueberry compote leading to wafts of red roses, spice cake and fallen leaves. Full-bodied, concentrated and decadently fruited, it has a firm backbone of rounded tannins and lovely freshness lifting the perfumed fruit to a long finish. Rating: 94-96 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2019)
A tight and dense red with depth of fruit and polished tannins that really impress at this stage. It’s naturally refined and complex with so much dark-berry, chocolate, cedar and hazelnut character. Great wine. Rating: 97-98 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2019)
This is a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc, from 7.5 hectares of vines (although only 6 hectares are currently in production). The fruit was picked between September 19th and October 3rd, the fruit cofermented (something they do in good vintages), with 100% microvinification in new oak barrels. The yield was 35 hl/ha. A fabulous nose, dark, brooding, with degraded black cherry and black plum, a very fragrant and perfumed style, beautifully poised, pure, deep and expressive. The palate is similarly convincing with dark plum, olive and currant fruits, dressed with pepper, soot, violets and rose petals, but it is the brooding black fruit that really dominates, even if it never denies that floral and elegant perfume a chance to shine. The tannins are very finely grained, wrapping around the middle of the palate and the end with a wonderfully confident poise. Long and tense in the finish, with tightly knit and grippy tannins throughout, this is a quite striking wine. In fact it is magnificent, brooding, perfumed, confident and correct. Tasted three times, the first sample was breathtaking and flirted with perfection, while the second, tasted at the château, fell just short. A third, sought out especially to resolve the difference, was closer to the second than the first. A superb wine. Rating: 97-99 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2019)
This is a modern wine, in keeping with the estate signature – gourmet and glamourous with good persistency. It has rich fruits and oak influence that comes through as cloves and smoked almonds with pencil lead and graphite joining the black cassis fruit as it opens up. It should age well but will be ready to enjoy relatively young as this style suits fruit that remains plump and rich. The harvest took place between 19 September and 3 October. 100% new oak, integral vinification, 7.5ha but 6ha in production. A yield of 35hl/ha. Drinking range: 2026 - 2040 Rating: 92 Jane Anson, Decanter (Mar 2019)
Château le Gay
Château le Gay, and near-by Château Lafleur, were owned by sisters Therese and Marie Robin for some sixty years. In the later years of their tenure, the management of the estate had been largely entrusted to the Moueix family with whom it was mostly expected that the estate would end up. But when Marie Robin died and her heirs had to sell one of the estates to meet inheritance duties, it was Catherine Pere-Verge who emerged as the owner of le Gay. Catherine had spent 40 years working for the family crystal ware business before deciding to semi-retire by buying a château in Pomerol. She started at Château Montveil where she garnered sufficient enthusiasm for the life of a vigneron to throw her hat into the ring with the better sited Château le Gay. She, subsequently, went on to buy the set to be iconic Château la Violette. On buying Château le Gay, Catherine installed new wine making facilities and increased the size of the vineyard by planting some previous unplanted land. Even with the newer vines, the average age of the vineyard is still 40 years old, planted to 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc.
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.