CHÂTEAU PEDESCLAUX
2018 5ème Cru Classé Pauillac
56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Franc. Showing quite closed when we tasted at the estate but there was good purity to the fruit and quite a soft, suave feel on the palate. It's a wine with nothing out of place so we're sure it will develop into a very fine Pauillac but it didn't quite light up the room on the day. We just found it a bit correct - more German engineering than French artistic flair - but we're being very picky! 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.
Aromas of blackcurrants, lavender, gravel, dried leaves, spice box and bitter chocolate. It’s full-bodied with firm, well integrated tannins. Creamy and succulent with a solid core of ripe fruit and a long, caressing finish. Grows on the palate. Try from 2025. Rating: 95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Feb 2021)
This estate has made leaps and bounds in terms of quality over the past decade, and my money is on the 2018 Château Pédesclaux being the best to date. The 2018 is made from 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, which will spend 16 months in 60% new French oak prior to bottling. Showing notable freshness and elegance as well as medium to full body, seamless tannins, and perfumed notes of blue fruits, spice, violets, and wet stone-like minerality, it offers the purity, precision, and elegance that the estate now delivers as well as the sweet, sunny fruit of the vintage. It will be accessible with just short-term cellaring yet keep for 25+ years or more. Rating: 93-95 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2019)
Pédesclaux was purchased in late 2009 by real estate mogul, Jacky Lorenzetti. In addition to the purchase of Pédesclaux and its 26 hectares of vineyards, Lorenzetti was also able to acquire an additional 12 hectares of vineyards planted at 10,000 vines per hectare that sit atop the Milon plateau (their rows are interspersed with those of Mouton and Lafite). The total vineyard acreage in 2018 was 49.7 hectares with an average vine age of 35 years. The soils are typically gravelly atop a clay subsoil. It will spend an estimated 16 months on the lees in barrels, 60% new and 40% second year. The blend is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, and it has 13.96% alcohol. Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Pedesclaux comes charging out of the gate with rambunctious baked plums, warm cassis and Morello cherries scents plus hints of spice cake, menthol and fragrant earth. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers mouth-coating black fruits and spicy accents, with a soft, fine-grained frame, finishing long. Rating: 92-94 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (Apr 2019)
Barrel sample. Darkest crimson with smudgy, wide rim. Fragrant with small dark berries, both cassis and elderberry and just a little hint of vanilla. Firm, chewy and rich in fruit. Thick yet rounded, the fruit enveloping the tannins. Juicy, fresh finish, even if the texture has a thickness about it. Drinking range: 2025 - 2036 Rating: 16.5 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2019)
Very long and straight with a beautiful, fine line of ripe and compressed tannins. Medium-to full-bodied and tight and fresh on the finish. Beautiful cabernet sauvignon is driving this one. Rating: 94-95 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2019)
This is the tenth vintage since the estate was purchased by Jacky Lorenzetti, and it is only fair to say it is undergoing a significant evolution. The blend in this vintage is 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot, all picked between September 25th and October 12th. This accounts for 60% of the harvest, and it has an alcohol of 13.96% and a pH of 3.8. It begins with a very fine nose of black cherry, damson and black violet, in a very pure style, with a little floral element, but it feels very purposeful and focused. There is a little touch of dark soot too. The palate is fresh, supple, broad and correct, filled with the flavours of black cherry stone, fragrant peony and violets again, with touches of sooty substance like the nose. Underneath it all there lies a finely poised and svelte bed of tannins, giving a charming grip, along with a fresh and vigorous acidity. A very convincing character overall, broad with ripe tannin, tightly knit and correct, which frames the finish very nicely. This is showing very well, and is surely the best wine from Pédesclaux I can recall tasting. Rating: 93-95 Chris Kissack, www.thewinedoctor.com (Apr 2019)
Château Pedesclaux
Fascinating visit here with the winemaker Catarina Freitas in 2012. Catarina showed us the map of the parcels which were owned by the property at the time that it was bought in 2009, and then two others, showing how, by purchases and swaps, they has vastly reduced the number of parcels and are consolidating the vineyard.
This was also where we first saw Alessandro Masnaghetti's maps of the area, which is a fascinating insight into where all these wines actually come from.
Catarina explained that as a result of the strength of the co-operative movement in Saint Estèphe and northern Pauillac, properties passed down though families often got split into tiny plots. The previous owner, in a rush to expand the surface area, bought what he could. Sometimes this was just a couple of rows of vines in the middle of someone else's vineyard. This made vineyard management harder, and also made it difficult to see clearly what they had at vinification - it was impossible to vinify every tiny bit separately.
Winemaking includes pre-fermentary cold maceration that can last up to an astonishing fifty days. Like properties such as Charmail, they tried using dry ice to cool the harvest so as to make sure the fermentation did not start, but from 2011 on they are using a new method, which I have not come across anywhere before, which is to hold the harvested grapes in a cold room at 3C for twenty-four hours before beginning the egrappage and final sortings and putting them into vats.
We were also shown the proposed new winery, which will use the natural slope of the built part of the property down to the Gironde. It will be built into the hill and use gravity thoughout to avoid pumping. Make no mistake, there intent is very serious here and its a name to look out for.
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.