CHÂTEAU DUHART MILON ROTHSCHILD
2020 4ème Cru Classé Pauillac
Market Insight: A solid Pauillac, but not quite touching on the likes of Grand Puy Lacoste, it would be great to see Duhart either ramp up their quality or adjust their price accordingly in 2020.L&S (May 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.
A firm and racy Duhart with currants, chocolate and walnuts. Medium-bodied, with fine tannins and a fresh finish. Lovely subtle fruit. A bright finish. Succulent and refined. Savory. Very, very fine. 72% cabernet sauvignon and 28% merlot. Drink or hold. Rating: 94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2023)
The 2020 Duhart-Milon is a powerful wine, with Cabernet Sauvignon driving the blends with tons of savory and earthy character. Dark cherry, dried herbs, scorched earth, tobacco, licorice and menthol are all laced together. This virile, somber Pauillac needs time in bottle to blossom. I won't be surprised if it is even better in another few years' time. This opens beautifully with time. Drinking range: 2024 - 2035 Rating: 93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Duhart-Milon, the maiden vintage crafted in the new cellar, has a glorious, unashamedly seductive bouquet with pure blackberry, pressed violet and light vanilla pod aromas that are beautifully defined. You know, this could dupe you into thinking it came from the Right Bank! The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannins and here we revert back to the Left Bank thanks to its prominent graphite seam. Finely balanced, quite silky smooth towards the finish, this is an excellent Pauillac that punches above my expectations in barrel. Drinking range: 2027 - 2050 Rating: 93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Duhart-Milon is soft, pliant and wonderfully seductive. Strong Cabernet aromatics open first, lending quite a bit of savory nuance. Bright red/purplish berry fruit, spice, cedar and earthy notes show the vibrant side of this Pauillac's personality. The 2020 deftly balances ripeness with energy. It's a terrific example of the year. Yields were 36.5 hectoliters per hectare, more or less in line with the recent past. The 2020 is the first vintage made in the new cellar. Drinking range: 2028 - 2040 Rating: 90-92 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)
The 2020 Duhart-Milon has a delightful, elegant bouquet, an almost equal mixture of red and black fruit laced with sous-bois, cigar box and touches of curry leaf in the background. It is a little timid at first, but it seemed to grow over the 90 minutes I observed this wine. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, a slightly fleshier Duhart-Milon compared to the obdurate, tannic wines of yore. It is gentle in some ways, revealing elegant brambly red fruit mixed with cedar and mint on the finish. Fine, although I would have liked just a tad more grip and heft. Drinking range: 2027 - 2050 Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)
Lots of tobacco, damp earth, chocolate, and lead pencil notes define the 2020 Château Duhart-Milon. Medium to full-bodied, it has a beautifully balanced mouthfeel, loads of blue and black fruits, and ripe yet certainly present tannins. Its relatively plush, rounded style is not too dissimilar from the 2016, but it offers ample structure as well. The blend is 72% Cabernet Sauvignon and 28% Merlot, and it hit 13% natural alcohol. This is another classic, concentrated, impressive wine from this team. Rating: 94-96 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)
Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2020 Duhart-Milon comes skipping out of the glass with vibrant notes of crushed black cherries, black raspberries and plum preserves, plus an exotic spice undercurrent of cumin seed, star anise and cardamom, with an earthy touch of black truffles. The medium-bodied palate delivers mouth-coating, juicy black fruits with a plush texture and just enough freshness, finishing long and spicy. The blend this year is 72% Cabernet Sauvignon and 28% Merlot, with the alcohol coming in at 13.1%. Drinking range: 2024 - 2039 Rating: 91 - 93+ Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (May 2021)
Restrained and sombre at first, but carefully constructed, with a rippling muscular texture, full of firm tannins with bright acidities underneath. Like the precision and the slightly austere cool blue fruits, pencil lead and liquorice root. Elegant, precise, feels very Pauillac in its density combined with fine tannins that have life and lift on the finish. Harvest September 9 to 29. First vintage in the new cellar. Drinking range: 2028 - 2042 Rating: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)
72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 28% Merlot. Power and definition but elegance as well. Tight and retrained initially then opens to blackcurrant with aeration. Fruit dense on the palate, a profusion of super-fine tannins providing a velvety texture as well as freshness. Long ageing. Possibly the best Duhart yet. Drinking range: 2028 - 2045 Rating: 17.5 James Lawther MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2021)
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 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.