CHÂTEAU LES ORMES DE PEZ
2020 Cru Bourgeois Exceptionnel Saint Estèphe
Bitter chocolate, blackberries, dried mint and tobacco leaves on the nose. Firm and linear, with a medium body and tight tannins. Tangy acidity. Sharp and clear cut. 54% merlot, the highest percentage ever, the rest cabernet sauvignon with a touch of petit verdot. Better in 2025. Rating: 92 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2023)
* 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 Ormes de Pez is a very pretty, fragrant Saint-Estèphe that will drink well right out of the gate. Crushed flowers, sweet red berry fruit, mint, spice and white pepper lend terrific brightness throughout. The 2020 is not terribly complex, but it is very easy to like and drink. Charming. Drinking range: 2025 - 2035 Rating: 90 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Ormes de Pez has held on to its Pauillac-inspired bouquet with touches of pencil shaving littered amongst the tightly-knit black fruit, then brine aromas percolating up with aeration (I give this 20 minutes to open). The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, cohesive yet maybe just missing the mid-palate weight and concentration of say, the Cazes's Lynch Bages or Haut-Batailley. Fresh and saline on the finish. Give it two or three years in bottle. Drinking range: 2025 - 2045 Rating: 91 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
This is a chewy, ripe and power-packed Ormes de Pez and it already looks complete and also balanced. The fruit is bold and juicy and both the oak and the tannins sit back and allow the blackberry notes to charm one’s senses. Rating: 17 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Jun 2021)
The 2020 Ormes de Pez is a pretty wine, even if it feels a bit light. Dried herbs, tobacco, mint, dried flowers and earthy tones lend aromatic nuance to this attractive, mid-weight Saint-Estèphe. It would be nice to see a bit more depth. Perhaps that will come with élevage. Drinking range: 2026 - 2040 Rating: 88-90 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)
The 2020 Ormes de Pez, which has gradually moved to a more Merlot-dominated blend over the last decade, is aged for 16 months in 45% new oak. It has a nicely detailed bouquet of a mélange of red and black fruit – cranberry, blackberry and a touch of blueberry – accompanied by cedar and subtle wild mint aromas; it is actually quite Pauillac-like in style. The palate is medium-bodied with grippy tannins and chewy in the mouth, quite compact at first. A strong saline, almost briny element comes through toward the finish, which is more quintessential Saint-Estèphe. This is a more backward and less finessed wine compared to the Cazes family’s Lynch-Bages or Haut-Batailley, but there is commendable length and character, not to mention a very attractive openness, to this wine. Drinking range: 2025 - 2045 Rating: 90-92 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)
Lots of plums, blackcurrants, tobacco, and loamy soil notes make up the bouquet of the 2020 Château Ormes De Pez, and it’s medium-bodied, with some chocolaty background oak, good purity of fruit, and ripe tannins. I don’t see any reason this shouldn’t easily be an outstanding Saint-Estèphe and drink well for 15-20 years. Rating: 90-92 Jeb Dunnuck, www.jebdunnuck.com (May 2021)
A firm, lightly chewy red with blackberry, blueberry, spice and some chocolate. Medium body and fine tannins. It grows on the palate. Tannins sneak up at the end. 54% merlot, the highest percentage ever, the rest cabernet sauvignon with a touch of petit verdot. Rating: 92-93 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2021)
Blueberry, raspberry and cassis, there is concentration but also juice. Merlot-dominant (following a restructuring of the vineyard to better align grapes with terroir) with bite and freshness. A lovely smoky edge here, this is another successful vintage for Ormes de Pez. 4% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 3.69ph. 45% new oak. A yield of 42hl/ha which was not as low here as at Lynch Bages because of more clay in the soils, and because the Merlot was less impacted by the drought than the Cabernet Sauvignon. Drinking range: 2024 - 2038 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)
54% Merlot, 38% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot. Merlot harvest began on 15 September, nine days earlier than in 2019, and continued until 20 September. The Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot were harvested on 21 and 22 September, respectively. Cabernet Sauvignon was picked from 20 to 28 September. 16 months' ageing in barriques (45% new) envisaged. Dark crimson, but much paler than the Pauillacs from this Cazes stable. Aromatic and medium concentration of fruit with some stoniness on the palate. Marked tannins and acidity but nothing excessive. Classic St-Estèphe. Cool fruit and freshness. Very dry finish. I should imagine that this will be far from the most opulent wine of the appellation but it's very sincere and correct and I like the menthol-fresh finish. 13.2% Drinking range: 2029 - 2047 Rating: 16.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2021)
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 2024 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2027. 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 2027. 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.