For Orders and more information. Please contact Theo Sloot via email or callling 01865 301144
Although we have access to all the major Chateaux, The Oxford Wine Company specialises in hand picked, value for money wines from up and coming producers that are primarily for drinking rather than investment. However, we regularly supply all levels of wine en primeur (including first growths) so if there are any wines that you particularly want to buy (either for long term maturation or investment) please contact Theo Sloot on 01865 301144 or email theo@oxfordwine.co.uk for recommendations, availability and price.
BORDEAUX EN PRIMEUR 2009
Prices will be released during May and June. These will be updated weekly as the wines are released – please let us know your interests as soon as possible as stock is limited and in high demand.
In the first week of September last year two wine producers told me that the grape potential at that time was higher than in 2005. The summer had seemed unspectacular but in fact the lack of great heat, coupled with large day-night temperature fluctuations were perfect for the development of aroma and of course the autumn was magnificent. In both cases the resulting wines are outstandingly good, but it is too early to say unequivocally that they are better than 2005, with the exception of Château Turcaud Entre-deux-Mers. This is the best wine the property has ever produced.
Similar remarks are to be found in scores of commentaries on Bordeaux, so….2009 is set to be outstanding. It will however be less regular in quality than 2005 when even the idlest producers could hardly get it wrong. Some people left their picking too late, with subsequent loss of fruit. The assessment of maturity was sometimes difficult. The word is that there will be massive demand for the top wines; presumably the prices will surge, especially after the sharp falls registered last year. (By the way quite a few well-known-name 2008s are still available at opening prices and these may come to seem extraordinarily good value if the current euphoria over 2009 is confirmed….)
Already Montrose, Troplong-Mondot and La Mission Haut-Brion are being talked about even before the Primeurs tastings have taken place. If you want to play this year, sharpen your pencils and be prepared to react quickly. One serious buyer whose opinion is worth having told me he had already bought new chaps and a stetson for the stampede! The investors may be out in force but don’t forget there will also be lovely wines, less well known and less sought-after, made by enthusiasts to cru classé standards, which will represent magnificent value and will grace any table. We shall of course be offering plenty of these!
Nigel Reay-Jones
Nigel Reay-Jones is our man in Bordeaux. Originally trained (Oxford 1965-72) as a biologist (good for spotting bugs in the vineyard), NRJ has lived in Bordeaux for 20 years and done most things you can get up to with wine and vines. He now has a wine importing business leaning heavily on close contact with the Real Thing and holds the unfashionable belief that Bordeaux wine can represent the best value for money in the world.
THE VALUE FOR MONEY SELECTION 2009
Please note that all prices are quoted “in bond” and are exclusive of duty and vat which are payable at the time of delivery to you in 2012.
We are unable to sell wines on a non duty paid under bond basis
For Orders and more information. Please contact Theo Sloot via email or callling 01865 301144.
You may notice a certain similarity between the 2009 recommendations and those of 2008. This is not because I have been too idle to taste anything else, nor is it because these châteaux offer larger bribes than anyone else (I wish!) It is simply that they are in the hands of competent enthusiasts who make the most of what they have and consistently make better wine than their neighbours. All the wines listed below stood out in the tastings, and that despite the overall splendour of the samples on offer.
For example Château Mongravey, which I recommend every year, was far ahead of all the other Crus Bourgeois Margaux in every imaginable aspect. While this was not that surprising among the range available at the Crus Bourgeois tasting, it was equally true at the Union des Grands Crus which included Monbrison and Labégorce.
The preponderance of wines from the Médoc is a reflection of the fact that 2009 is above all a magnificent Cabernet year. There is also a slightly longer list than usual just because there are so many gorgeous things available. The right bank is a bit less regular, although many properties have outdone their 2005s. It is whispered that the very high alcohol levels achieved by some Merlots gave problems at the end of the fermentation. The odd wine, even the odd very well known one, was dry and lacking fruit, likely to be a symptom of a prematurely arrested fermentation, with residual sugar inviting bacterial attack or oxidation in the absence of the protective carbon dioxide cushion.
Ch Tour Séran Cru Bourgeois (Medoc) £174.00
After saying that 2009 is above all a great Cabernet year it might seem a bit contrary to recommend a Médoc with a high proportion of Merlot! It is however exceptionally elegant and complex, with a gorgeous, almost perfumed nose and tons of fruit, standing out even among the many excellent wines on offer. The grape mix in the10ha vineyard is roughly 65% Merlot 15% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Petit Verdot. The vineyard is known to the fashionable writers and I see it got a good mark from the Parker reviewer (89-91). The famous Italian oenologist Riccardo Cotarella advises the property and may well have something to do with its unusual and excellent quality!
Ch de Braude (Haut-Medoc) £99.00
We recommended this, and its sister Château Mongravey, last year and there is every reason to do so again. They stood out clearly in the tastings. The owner Régis Bernaleau achieved the promotion of both to Cru Bourgeois in 2003, quite a feat. While the classification has now, sadly, been officially invalidated, it makes no difference to the quality of these wines. De Braude attracts a lot of attention but remains sensibly priced. This may not last, given such concentrated, fruity and complex wine. OWC stocks Braude on a regular basis as many of you know and it recently came out top in the Decanter tasting of all the Crus Bourgeois 2007 (143 wines). Ch Mongravey (Margaux)
Château Mongravey (Margaux) £158.00
The remarks on Château de Braude are equally applicable here. Mongravey has distinguished itself again and stood out from most of its better known (and dearer!) peers: an almost perfumed nose of herbs and wild flowers, a beautifully integrated palate, ripe, rich, fruity and long. Modern wine but one in which technique has clearly enhanced the expression of the terroir, rather than crushed it, as has sometimes been the case this year.
Ch Tour-Sieujean (Pauillac) £TBA
I recommended this one last year. As the wine is even bette I am doing so again and repeat what I said then: It is a great pleasure to be able to recommend a new vineyard, and no one else has got it - yet! Tour Sieujean left the Cave Coopérative in 2002. 2003 isn’t bad, 2004 has more structure and class and in 2005 it hit the jackpot and has repeated the success in every year since. The vines (6ha) are near Pichon and Batailley, the winery is very well equipped, the owners enthusiastic, and so are we: an intense purple/ruby colour, aromas of cherries and black fruit with elegant oak, a fresh, utterly clean palate with lots of fruit, surprising concentration, ripe tannins and excellent balance….and look at the price! The grape mix is 30% Merlot and 70% Cabernet Sauvignon.
Ch Lilian-Ladouys Cru Bourgeois (St-Estephe) £140.00
This produced a couple of legendary vintages after a change of ownership nearly 30 years ago and has rather rested on its laurels since then, even descending to the level of unexciting competence in the last few years. It was sold again on the 25th of September 2008,to the dynamic team which bought the Haut-Médoc vineyards Belle-Vue and Gironville in 2004, too late to do the essential quality-lifting work in the vines but the wine-making alone produced a remarkable result. However the owners refused to sell it en primeur on the grounds that it was still unrepresentative of their standards! The 2009 on the other hand has had the full works and is magnificent. This is outstanding value for money. It is hard to believe that Lilian-Ladouys will remain at this price-level for much longer.
Ch de Pressac Grand Cru (St-Emilion Grand Cru) £TBA
Decanter has drawn attention to this on a number of occasions and it has emerged well above its Grand Cru station in many tastings. The 2009, just like the 2008, will be one of its great successes: a clean, structured, integrated and fruit-rich production of almost creamy texture that puts many of its classified colleagues to shame. The owner came fresh from industry, with the essential mixture of money and enthusiasm, in the mid-nineties, and is now president of the Saint-Emilion syndicate. He is leading from the front.
Ch Rochebelle Grand Cru (St-Emilion Grand Cru) £378.00
Not exactly cheap but stunning richness and complexity. On the samples that day, well ahead of cultish wines like Quinault L’Enclos and Rol Valentin. I have long been an admirer of Rochebelle, winner of the Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Cup in 2001, beating 10 times dearer Valandraud in the final. Every year it produces an inky dark, splendid vin de garde, free from the vagaries of fashionable production and true to the intelligent use of its terroir on the plateau to the East of Saint-Emilion. This plateau is shared with Tertre-Rôteboeuf, Pavie-Decesse etc. so it is, to say the least, well placed and also small enough (3ha) for great care to be taken of the vines. It should be good and it always is but in 2009 it has rather surpassed itself, comfortably beating pricey competitors like Rol Valentin and Quinault L’Enclos. If it seems a bit expensive for a good-value-for-money selection then all I can say is that it is well worth it! For me it surpassed many of the Crus Classés.
Ch Tour Maillet (Pomerol) £228.00
2009 Pomerol is variable. There are many splendid wines and almost as many failures! Some people just aren’t trying hard enough or left their grapes to go over-ripe. Tour Maillet is one of those tiny properties (2ha22) that was upgraded a few years ago with an immediate effect on quality. This meant changes in vineyard practices to reduce yield and optimise ripeness and changes in wine making, including use of 100% new oak. The wine is made of 100% Merlot and that requires the right sort of terroir. Everything has come together in 2009 and this one is a success, furthermore a success that appears to flying, as Parker puts it, beneath the radar. At any rate it wasn’t reviewed by Neal Martin who writes for the Parker website. Perhaps lack of fashionable recognition explains the reasonable price. This is very ood value in this pricey field.
TOP WINE RECOMMENDATIONS ON REQUEST
We have access to all the major Chateaux – if you require recommendations regarding the best wines of the vintage or general investment advice please contact theo@oxfordwine.co.uk for information on availablity and prices.