CHÂTEAU LE TERTRE RÔTEBOEUF
2020 Grand Cru Classé Saint Emilion
Roteboeuf, despite being at the quality level which could let them vie for a spot amongst the six Classé 'A' of St Emilion, do not bother with classifications, instead allowing the market to dictate demand. Their higher elevation on the ‘tertre’ means they are frequently the last to pick and this, along with the soil, has countenanced the richness of the 2020 with freshness and tension. It was as if this wine were built for the vintage and was one of our highlights at tasting.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.
The 2020 Tertre-Rôteboeuf is stunning. It's not quite the 2016, but it comes awfully close. Who knows in time where this will go? A vibrant, explosive Saint-Émilion, the 2020 Tertre-Rôteboeuf sizzles with tension and energy. Black cherry, gravel, spice, espresso and chocolate stain the palate with tremendous intensity and sheer nuance. Tightly wound and full of energy, the 2020 is simply magnificent. What a wine! Drinking range: 2028 - 2050 Rating: 98 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Tertre-Rôteboeuf retains its Côte d'Or leanings on the nose: red cherries, kirsch and vanilla pod, with subtle floral aromas surfacing with aeration. Very pure and perhaps less flamboyant than the previous vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with very polished tannins, exquisite balance, and touches of allspice and thyme infusing the red fruit. Not a single hard edge here; it feels long and persistent toward the finish, completing a very seductive Saint-Émilion that will give pleasure over the next 20 years. Drinking range: 2028 - 2050 Rating: 94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Tertre-Rôteboeuf is rich, deep and fabulously expressive, packing so much punch and energy into its midweight yet opulent frame. Black cherry, gravel, menthol, spice, licorice and smoke all build in the glass. Red cherry, red plum, lavender and blood orange lend brightness as the 2020 gains volume. Dazzling. Drinking range: 2030 - 2050 Rating: 95-97 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)
The 2020 Tertre-Rôteboeuf has exquisite purity on the nose, to the point where I could not decide whether the aromatics resembled a fine Romanée-Saint-Vivant or a Saint-Émilion. Maybe a mixture of the two? There are plush black cherries, cassis and vanilla, and creamy new oak but wonderfully integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grained tannins. This particular sample, from a half-bottle, did demonstrate quite a bit of wood tannin, especially on the finish, but that will be subsumed by the oak, and as my glass warmed up, it did become more enmeshed. I suspect this Tertre-Rôteboeuf will require more bottle aging than previous vintages. Drinking range: 2028 - 2050 Rating: 93-95 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)
One of the wines of the vintage will be the 2020 Château Tertre Roteboeuf, which has its classic exotic, boisterous, incredibly sexy personality front and center. Cassis, smoked meats, vanilla, graphite, white truffle, and a liqueur of rocks-like minerality are just some of the nuances here, and it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, incredibly purity, building tannins, and a blockbuster of a finish. I followed this barrel sample for just under a week and it never showed a hint of oxidation or fatigue. This cuvée always shows lots of oak (it’s brought up in 100% new barrels), especially in its youth, but it is incredibly well-integrated and largely disappears once at full maturity. Hide bottles for 7-8 years if you can, and it’s going to keep for 30 years or more. Rating: 97-99 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)
I feel like I need to warm up and stretch before unleashing this mighty wine from its bottle. Even though the TR quartet arrived in half-bottle format it seems that the Grand Vin requires more effort to lift and pour its contents such is the structure and intensity of this wine. On the palate it is centred, brooding and ever so slightly menacing. The nose is hugely powerful and black-fruited and even the oak notes wait their turn for the fruit to greet the palate and then stride away in its flowing robes of flavour. This is a big wine, and a flamboyant one, too, but it has searing freshness on the finish and there is true balance here in spite of the density of exotic fruit. Texturally, this is a fantastic treat because there is so much to hold onto and this makes Tertre Roteboeuf a hedonistic delight in 2020. Rating: 18.5 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (May 2021)
This is a powerful, deeply focused and intense. Plenty of spice, cassis pastille, intense muscular tannins, fairly closed and austere right now, but a real sense of lift and juice becomes clear after 10 minutes of opening in the glass. Harvest began on September 21st, the earliest since Mitjavile arrived at the estate. Recently had the beautiful 1998 of Tertre Roteboeuf, and it is easy to see that this vintage also will allow the limestone terroir to become clearer with bottle age. Drinking range: 2024 - 2036 Rating: 95 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)
Château Le Tertre Rôteboeuf
The cellar at Tertre Rôteboeuf is something to behold. Dark, unpretentious with vine roots growing along the walls - it's the complete opposite of the grandeur experienced at other Right Bank Châteaux. Very refreshing indeed. It is a slice of the best sort of Burgundian charm nestled amongst the local grandees. Francois Mitjavile has the air of a chaotic creative - but this cellar is beautifully ordered and he fashions wines of stunning beauty here, aromatic and wonderfully complex. Year after year. This 6HA property remains a hard to get hold of Cult classic and a visit here is a real highlight of our annual trip to the region. In 1987 he purchased a second property in the Côtes de Bourg, Roc des Cambes. The wines here share much of the family feel and are well worth hunting out too.
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.