CHÂTEAU LE PIN
2025 Pomerol
The depth and intensity give incredible energy in this Le Pin at this stage. The plum, dried flower, bark and fresh mushroom character is unique and it continues on the midpalate and finish. It’s endless and sophisticated with an ethereal nature. Transcendental in many ways. Can’t wait to try it from bottle. Two thirds the normal production. Pure merlot. Magic. Rating: 99-100 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2026)
75cl bottles (wood case of 3)
* 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.
Deep colour in the glass. Quite a dark but mineral nose with iron, stony accents, cool blackcurrant, cola, graphite, blood and violet notes. Soft and smooth straight away with a sexy, liquorice and perfumed character, gently chewy texture yet keeping that liquorice, tobacco, iron and squid ink minerality that puts much more stone than sun in the glass. Structure is there but this has freshness and coolness overall. I love the harmony, perfume and silk – dark blue fruit with a soft fleshy aspect, juicy acidity and cool flinty finish. It’s heady in a way many other wines this vintage aren’t, understated yet with the hint of Le Pin confidence, lots of spice on the finish – cigar, tobacco, dark chocolate and cedar – plus such layering of intense flavours. Really impressively constructed with unmistakable delicacy of texture but huge intensity of flavour. Ends with a cool and salty grip. I actually really quite love this. A yield of 20hl/ha. The team only picked the round and juicy grapes after 15-20mm rain at the end of August. Less than 1g berries. 3.79pH. Drinking range: 2034 - 2050 Rating: 97 Georgie Hindle - Decanter (May 2026)
The 2025 Le Pin is a wild, exotic beauty. Deeply layered spice overtones and a kiss of French oak lead into a core of vibrant dark-fleshed fruit. In this tasting, Le Pin comes across as a bit heavy and monolithic, largely because of yields that were just 20 hectoliters per hectare. I am sure those who can taste Le Pin will adore it, but personally, I prefer the greater tension and energy of its sibling, L'If, a much more contemporary wine that also costs about 1/20th the price. Expect the 2025 Le Pin to be rare (only ten barrels produced) and very pricey. The big news at Le Pin is that the estate has added a choice parcel measuring about one hectare planted with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon that formerly belonged to L'Evangile. That will increase Le Pin's planted surface area from two to three hectares (plus another 0.7 hectares that are being redeveloped). Sadly, this is the last vintage made by Guillaume Thienpont. Drinking range: 2035 - 2065 Rating: 95-97 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (Apr 2026)
Picked in just two days, with hand sorting to eliminate any raisined berries, the 2025 Le Pin exhibits aromas of sweet cherries and raspberries along with hints of espresso roast, incense and pencil lead. Medium- to full-bodied, rich and layered, it's velvety, fleshy and enveloping, retaining its flamboyant personality but also displaying the unusual concentration of the vintage. Rating: 94-96 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (May 2026)
The 2025 Le Pin was picked in two passes through the vines on September 5 and 10 at just 20 hl/ha due to the small berry size, matured in two-thirds new oak and one-third one-year-old (Seguin Moreau and Taransaud). The younger vines that were stressed were not used in the blend. It takes time to unfold on the nose, with red berry fruit, black truffle and veins of graphite. The oak is very discretely used here. The palate is medium-bodied with velvety tannins, fine depth, though this is more a linear, vertical Le Pin rather than the more flamboyant 2022. A tingle of white and black pepper, a dab of licorice towards the finish that lingers temptingly. I suspect this will demand three to five years to really show its mettle. Drinking range: 2032 - 2060 Rating: 95-97 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2026)
Château Le Pin
Mme Loubie had owned a dilapidated house and a few vines, just north of Catusseau, for decades, selling the produce off to go into generic Pomerol blends. Little more than basic care had been taken of the vineyard, and most of the vines were rather old, whilst expensive insecticides and herbicides had been unaffordable. When Mme Loubie died in 1978, Jacques Thienpont spent the incredible sum of one million francs on the 1ha of vineyard and a tatty old house and chai. The first vintage of Le Pin was the 1979, aged in cast-off barrels from Vieux Château Certan. From 1981, Le Pin was aged in 100% new wood. 1982 was 1982, and the lavish praise heaped on Le Pin by Robert Parker (it’s a 100 point wine) and others propelled Le Pin into the big time. The original 1ha has slowly and surely been augmented by further adjoining purchases, taking the vineyard area up to 2.7ha. It is all the classic clay soil of the Pomerol plateau, with a high iron oxide content. Le Pin is always 100% Merlot. Le Pin is one of Bordeaux’s, indeed the world’s wine, icons with a reputation only matched by Petrus in Pomerol. Production is still tiny, and demand very high.
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 £17.50+ 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 2025 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2028. 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. Many properties specify a standard case format, and may make additional charges for six-bottle cases, for example. We offer wood cases of six bottles as standard where these are available without extra charge, but we can source wines in any format that is offered by the Château. If you want six-bottle cases where a 12 bottle case is offered, please check for the extra case charge. Please note that format requests cannot be changed once wines have been invoiced. Additional charges for special formats do apply and are as follows:-
- +£20.00 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)
- +£10.00 per case of 6 Magnums
- +£50.00 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£70.00 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 2028. 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 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.