CHÂTEAU NÉNIN
2018 Pomerol
Elegant, complex nose with dark and blue fruit, as well as spicy and earthy undertones. Sandalwood and cedar with dark chocolate, too. Full body with firm, ultra fine tannins. Structured, layered and flavorful on the palate. It’s very polished with a lovely texture and a long finish. Pure and luscious. Merlot with 37% cabernet franc. Best ever. Try after 2024, but already very beautiful. 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.
The 2018 Nenin is made up of 63% Merlot and 37% Cabernet Franc and has 14.6% alcohol. Yields were 33.8 hectoliters per hectare, and grapes were harvested between September 13 and October 12. The wine is to be aged in barriques, 45% new, and the finished blend was put into barrels last December. Deep purple-black in color, it sings of Morello cherries, Black Forest cake, licorice and lavender with a core of plum preserves, unsmoked tobacco and warm blackberries plus a waft of Provence herbs. Full-bodied and concentrated yet bursting with energy, it has a solid backbone of firm, rounded tannins and bags of freshness, finishing long. Rating: 93-95 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2019)
This is a special wine with unique black-cherry character and hints of hazelnuts. Full bodied, tight and totally melted together with the firm and ultra-fine tannins Extremely long. Rating: 96-97 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2019)
This is a blend of 63% Merlot and 37% Cabernet Franc, picked between September 13th and October 10th, with a yield of 33.8 hl/ha, an alcohol of 14.6% and a pH of 3.64. It has a delightful fragrance on the nose, all peony, sweetpea and verbena scents. It certainly possesses a very floral style, with some toasted oak, bringing a sweet and lightly caramelised edge to the aromatic profile. It feels very precise all the same. The palate follows on with a sense of precision, showing freshness, character and energy. It feels medium-bodied, lithe and sinewy in its character, with perfumed peony fruit. A very fresh style with tightly grained, seamless and polished tannins. Long and tense, this vintage continues a run of improved form for this estate. The élevage will be in 45% new oak. Rating: 92-94 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2019)
This has incredibly clear pencil lead and graphite flavours from the very first moment (I’ve tasted it a few times and always got this (to the point that I genuinely recommend it to wine students who are studying flavours!) but once you get beyond this, everything is precise and well fleshed out with beautiful ripe red fruits. A little higher than usual Cabernet Franc is in the blend and these are massal selection vines which are flavourful and rich in salinity. The harvest took place between 13 September and 10 October, 3.64IPT. Drinking range: 2026 - 2038 Rating: 92 Jane Anson, Decanter (Mar 2019)
Château Nénin
Two things make Château Nenin standout from the rest of Pomerol – at 32ha it is considerably larger than most in in this crowded appellation; and Nenin has a real bona fide 19th Century château at its core rather than the more usual small shed. Infact it appears more along the lines of something one might find in the Haut-Médoc which is perhaps fitting as, since 1987, it has been in common ownership with Château Potensac and the great Saint Julien estate of Château Leoville Las Cases. As one might expect with such a noble stable-mate, quality has advanced rapidly in line with a lot of healthy investment in the estate. The vineyards are planted with 78% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon with an average age of around 30 years. The second wine is Fugue de Nenin.
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 2024 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.