CHÂTEAU LES ORMES DE PEZ
2018 Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel Saint Estèphe
41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot. It spends 16 months in French oak, 45% new barrels. This is an Ormes de Pez with buckets of rich, dark berry fruit. It has real depth and there's no shortage of structure to pin it all on either. The tannins are pronounced but very fine. It's kept fresh by a keen line of acidity running through the middle. This is a powerful, concentrated but well-balanced Saint Estèphe that will reward at least five years in the cellar. Drinking range: 2024 - 2035L&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 Les Ormes de Pez was a perplexing wine from barrel, when I felt it was unnaturally hedonistic. Now in bottle, it does not dispense with what is still a comparatively exotic bouquet for a Saint-Estèphe in this vintage: brash red fruit, kirsch and cassis aromas. This is quite seductive but it just misses the DNA of the appellation. The palate is medium-bodied, fleshy and corpulent, with saturated tannins and a ripe, licorice-tinged finish. I maintain that this is an enjoyable Les Ormes de Pez, but it is still not my favorite in recent years. Drinking range: 2022 - 2036 Rating: 89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Mar 2021)
The 2018 Ormes de Pez is a powerhouse, just as it was en primeur. Inky dark fruit, cloves, menthol, gravel, licorice, game and scorched earth power through this virile, imposing Saint-Estèphe from the Cazes family. Savory accents from the Cabernets and the Petit Verdot add intensity through to the imposing finish. Drinking range: 2022 - 2033 Rating: 90 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Mar 2021)
The inky colored 2018 Château Ormes De Pez checks in as 50% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, and the balanced Petit Verdot that’s still aging in 45% new French oak. It offers lots of ripe black cherry and blackberry fruits intermixed with subtle violets and background oak. With building richness, medium to full body, ripe tannins, and remarkable purity of fruit, it’s another incredibly impressive Saint-Estephe that’s going to need 4-6 years of bottle age and be long-lived. Rating: 91-93 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2019)
Composed of 50% Merlot, 41% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot and aging in 45% new barriques, the deep purple-black colored 2018 Ormes de Pez leaps from the glass with vibrant blackberries, black cherries and mulberries scents plus touches of garrigue, tree bark and bay leaves. Medium to full-bodied with bags of muscular fruit, it has a firm, grainy texture and great freshness, finishing on an herbal lift. Rating: 90-92 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2019)
Deep, dark black-cherry colour. Rich aroma of small, concentrated black berries and some toasty oak. Quite dry on the palate, especially in conjunction with the thick if rounded tannins. Really chewy but the fruit does sneak out again at the very end – it is there but hidden at the moment. Drinking range: 2028 - 2038 Rating: 16.5 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2019)
This is very dense and lively with blueberry and blackberry character. Lots of purple fruit at the end. Full body and powerful tannins. Spicy undertones with hints of black tea. Rating: 93-94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2019)
This has the luxurious kick of the Lynch Bages stable and is brilliant value for this level of quality. It seems to manage this every vintage and is just such a brilliant drinking wine. 2018 is another excellent year here, with deep fruitfulness of brambled hedgerow alongside liquorice and woodsmoke. It has a polyphenol index of 84IPT, so this is full of tannins but they don't feel overpowering. Tasted several times and always striking. 45% new oak. 3.57pH. Drinking range: 2024 - 2036 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (Apr 2019)
This is a blend of 50% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot, and the alcohol in this vintage is 14.5%. This sample feels smoky and slightly reductive on the nose, with a little vein of dark summer fruits. The palate shows the same character, albeit with a brooding, ripe, rather roasted style of fruit. A rich substance through the middle, brimming with a rich if slightly chalky tannic grip, this is a very impressive barrel sample. It finishes broad, slightly brawny, admirable, and with some length to it as well. The élevage will be in 16 months in oak, using 45% new barrels. Rating: 92-94 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2019)
Château Les Ormes de Pez
Château Les Ormes-de-Pez (French for The Elms of Pez) is a winery in the Saint-Estèphe appellation of the Bordeaux wine region of France, near the hamlet of Pez. The wine produced here was classified as one of 9 Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnels in the 2003 listing. Though this classification is currently annulled, it is expected to be revived by the 2009 vintage, but without use of the quality divisions such as "exceptionnel". The Château and buildings date from 1792, constructed after the division and sale of Château de Pez as a result of the French Revolution. During the 19th century it was owned by Marcel Alibert, also the owner of Château Belgrave, until it was sold in 1927 to the Société Civile du Haut Médoc. Financial trouble forced the estate to be sold on to Jean-Charles Cazes in 1930, who passed it on to his son André Cazes. To date the estate is owned by the Cazes family, also owners of Château Lynch-Bages. For many years the vinification took place at Lynch-Bages, but the cuvier and chai of Ormes-de-Pez were modernised before the 1981 vintage. After a long period of management by Jean-Michel Cazes, he has been succeeded by his son Jean-Charles Cazes. The vineyard area, divided into two blocks north and south of the village of Saint-Estèphe, extends 33 hectares (82 acres), with the grape varieties of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot. The annual production of the Grand vin Château Ormes de Pez is typically 15,000 cases.
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.