For Orders and more information. Please contact Theo Sloot via email or callling 01865 301144
EN PRIMEUR 2010
In response to customer requests The Oxford Wine Company specialises in carefully chosen, value for money wines from up and coming producers that are primarily for drinking rather than investment – to order please contact Theo Sloot on 01865 301144 or email theo@oxfordwine.co.uk for recommendations, availability and price. If you have any particular wines that you are interested in please let me know. We will try to get hold of different wines for you, but limited supply at source and massive demand mean that this is not always possible.
THE OXFORD WINE COMPANY SELECTION 2010
All prices are quoted “in bond” and are exclusive of duty and vat which are payable at the time of delivery to you.
Please note that we are unable to sell wines on a non duty paid under bond basis.
"We thought 2005 to be a landmark wine vintage, unlikely to be matched for a generation, then along came 2009 to rival and in some cases surpass it. A week of wine tasting in Bordeaux leads me to believe that 2010 may well overtake them both, and I cannot recall a more thrilling week’s tasting in terms of the quality of the wines." (Alun Griffiths MW)
Ch Beaumont (Haut Medoc) £105 case
This Haut Medoc property is planted with 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Elevage in about one third new oak. The oak is one third new each vintage. Beaumont is under the same ownership as Chateau Beychevelle. Medium colour with nicely balanced sweet, ripe red cherry fruit. Nicely polished and attractive.
Ch Ferran (Graves/Pessac Leognan) £120 case
This modestly priced Pessac-Leognan property has produced its best ever wine in 2010. Nice Graves notes of earth and tar with good freshness and minerality.
Ch Villa Bel-Air (Graves/Pessac Leognan) £110 case STAR BUY!!!
This property in the Graves is owned and run by the Cazes family of Lynch Bages. Previous vintages here have offered very good quality and delivered attractive, forward drinking with extremely modest release prices. Usually one of the best buys en primeur. The vines (planted in 1988) are now reaching maturity, about half Cabernet Sauvignon, half Merlot with a twist of Cabernet Franc. Aged in 10% new oak and the rest in one and two year old barrels from Lynch Bages. Lovely spice on the nose here with a hint of cinnamon. On the palate this is supple, sexy from the oak and with hints of milk chocolate and coffee. Plummy red fruit and a touch of smoky Graves typicity. Lovely exoticism balanced with freshness. This is going to be really delicious at an early age and represents fantastic value for money. Drink 2014 – 2024
Ch Senejac (Haut Medoc) £120 case
This well known cru bourgeois property is owned by Lorraine Cordier of Chateau Talbot but vinification is now under the control of Alfred Tesseron's wine-making team from Pontet Canet. The special cuvée Karolus is no longer produced and the quality of Senejac is now at a classed growth level. Very sexy and sweet with a plump mid palate. The opulence controlled by a touch of tannin. Finely balanced. Very well put together.
Ch Saintayme £120 case (St Emilion)
Denis Durantou of L'Eglise Clinet makes this modestly priced cuvée from a parcel of 35 year old Merlot vines in Saint Etienne de Lisse. A deep, opaque colour and bags of red fruit. Really precise and pure with good structure (the grapes were picked fresh, not over-ripe). A real contrast to some of the over-blown, over-extracted wines of Saint Emilion. Ultra-fine and should be a real bargain. Best Saintayme ever.
Les Ormes de Pez (St Estephe) £252 case
Owned and made by the Cazes family of Lynch Bages, this is a consistently good wine and clearly an aspiring cru classé that produces better wine then many of those who got lucky in 1855. 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 7% Cabernet Franc, 34% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot with ageing in 45% new oak. A deep colour. A complex, enticing, smoky nose with hints of sweet red cherries. Clean and polished with good fatness and richness. Lots of weight and succulent ripe fruit. One of the biggest wines ever from here. Very impressive and certainly of classed growth quality.
Ch Batailley £300 case (Pauillac)
A well situated vineyard in Pauillac that can be relied upon to produce a decent wine at a fair price. 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot with a little Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, elevage in 55% new oak. Medium weight wine that has a smoky Medocain nose. Nicely balanced with forward, ripe Cabernet fruit. Rounded tannins and attractive cedar and spice. Polished and balanced, quietly classy. Proper claret.
Sauternes
Ch Doisy Védrines (Sauternes/Barsac) £240
The Doisy-Vedrines has a refined bouquet of lemon curd, dried honey and just a touch of quince, perhaps not quite as rich as recent vintages, but very well-defined. The palate is well-balanced, with a touch of lime cordial and passion fruit on the entry, and zesty acidity and impressive precision towards the taut, slightly spicy rich finish. Returning after an hour, this sample has enhanced clarity and volume, and subsequent encounters confirm a very promising Doisy-Vedrines.
