CHÂTEAU MONTLANDRIE
2020 Côtes de Castillon
Very minerally with crushed stone and limestone. Black berries and blueberries. Violets. Full-bodied with tight and firm tannins and lovely length. Tannic and firm. Needs time to soften and come together. But beautiful and solid. Try after 2026. Rating: 94 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.
Very minerally with crushed stone and limestone. Black berries and blueberries. Violets. Full-bodied with tight and firm tannins and lovely length. Tannic and firm. Needs time to soften and come together. But beautiful and solid. Try after 2026. Drinking range: 2026 - 2038 Rating: 94 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2023)
The 2020 Montlandrie, the Durantou family's Côtes de Castillon, is fabulous. It is another very serious wine in this range. A core of dark Merlot fruit gradually opens, releasing complicating notes of spice, leather, incense and licorice. There's real depth and gravitas. A few years in the cellar seem prudent, as there is a lot of wine here. The purity of the flavors is just striking. Drinking range: 2025 - 2035 Rating: 94 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
Intense and concentrated, blueberry and blackberry fruits lifted by strands of saffron and oyster shell, austere on the finish, good stuff. 40% new oak, harvest September 18 to 25, 45hl/ha yield, 3.6ph. Noemie Durantou winemaker alongside Olivier Gautrat. Drinking range: 2023 - 2038 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (Feb 2023)
The 2020 Montlandrie is one of the more showy wines from the Durantou's this vintage. It is quite plush and sensual with scents of crème de cassis, crushed violet and a hint of star anis. Nicely defined, though their Lalande-de-Pomerols demonstrate a little more class. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, fleshy and generous, a little sweeter than the Les Cruzelles with a pure, quite intense finish. Fine - it just needs a couple of years in bottle. Drinking range: 2024 - 2035 Rating: 89 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Feb 2023)
This is another lovely Montlandrie and it is grainy, plush, full-fruited and the deepest purple. The texture is chewy and savoury and while it seems rather backward on the face of it, the fruit is already rather pliable. I imagine it will start drinking younger than most vintages of this wine and then hold nicely. Rating: 17+ Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (Jun 2021)
The 2020 Montlandrie is powerful, densely constituted and full of character. Inky red/purplish fruit, cedar, spice, mocha and dried flowers are all laced together. Far from an easygoing wine, it packs a serious punch, and I expect it will age wonderfully. In 2020, the Montlandrie may very well be the hidden gem in the Durantou range. (This is the second year in the new winery.) Drinking range: 2025 - 2035 Rating: 91-93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Jun 2021)
The 2020 Montlandrie was picked September 18–25 and matured in 40% new oak. It has an exuberant, ripe bouquet, a mixture of red and blueberry fruit, crushed violets and potpourri aromas surfacing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins, sweet and sensual, although I find less complexity on the finish compared directly with its siblings, La Chenade and Les Cruzelles. Still, this will give several years of drinking pleasure. Drinking range: 2025 - 2035 Rating: 88-90 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2021)
The 2020 Montlandrie is a blend of 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. The Merlot was picked between the 18th and the 22nd of September, and the Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon were picked from the 23rd to the 25th of September. It has an alcohol of 14.5% and is aging in French oak barrels, 40% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it bursts from the glass with vibrant notes of crushed blackberries, fresh, juicy black plums and mulberries, plus hints of bay leaves, cardamom, ground black pepper and black truffles. The medium to full-bodied palate possesses impressive freshness with a solid backbone of soft, rounded tannins and bags of ripe black fruits, finishing long with a peppery kick. Drinking range: 2025 - 2039 Rating: 92-94 Lisa Perrotti-Brown, RobertParker.com (May 2021)
Denis Durantou estate up on the limestone plateau of Castillon, now vinified by his daughter Noémie Durantou. Deeply coloured, ruby in colour with fleshy fruit, not giving a whole lot away right now, but this is a fairly discreet vintage in many ways. The dominant impression is of a rough linen and wet stone texture that reflects its limestone soils. Width and depth as it opens in the palate, serious for now but with plenty to give. A yield of 45hl/ha. 3.6pH. Drinking range: 2023 - 2035 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2021)
Very salty and tangy with some white pepper, too, as well as lots of blackberries and blueberries. Medium body with delicate yet firm tannins that show intensity. Firm finish. Rating: 92-93 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (Apr 2021)
Château Montlandrie
Among the brightest stars of the exalted Pomerol appellation is Denis Durantou at Château l’Eglise-Clinet. A little further south-east, across the boundary in the Côtes de Castillon is Château Montlandrie that Denis bought in 2009. Much renovation has taken place at the 12ha vineyard that includes, almost uniquely for the Right Bank, new plantings of Cabernet Sauvignon that now make up 15% of the vineyard alongside the usual 65% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc.
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 2022 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2025. 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 2025. 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.