Friday 3 May 2019

We start the day with a popular Saint Estephe from the Cazes family of Lynch Bages prestige.  Ormes de Pez offers consistently good value and the 2018 is another great quality wine - 93 Dec "This has the luxurious kick of the Lynch Bages stable and is brilliant value for this level of quality". 

Next we have Clos du Marquis from the team behind Leoville Las Cases (undeniably one of the stars of the vintage with 4 potential 100 point scores).  Saint Julien was one of the top performing appellations in 2018 and since the introduction of a second wine in 2015, La Petite Marquise, the quality here has been pushed even higher.  94-96 JD "this beauty builds on the palate with ripe, polished tannin, ample oomph, and a great finish."

Finally we have a rich and powerful Malartic Lagraviere (92-95 AG) and a Fifth Growth from Pauillac, Croizet Bages.

Prices

CLOS DU MARQUIS  |   £464 per 12x75
94-96 JD - Full-bodied and rich, with a stacked mid-palate, this beauty builds on the palate with ripe, polished tannin, ample oomph, and a great finish. It’s a powerful, concentrated wine from the team at Léoville Las Cases that will benefit from 5-7 years of bottle age and keep for two decades.

CROIZET BAGES  |   £333 per 12x75
91 Dec - This wine continues a good run for Croizet Bages with the depth and persistency you want from a Pauillac estate. It’s enjoyable and well put together with high levels of freshness and tannins that are evident without being overpowering.

MALARTIC LAGRAVIERE  |   £417 per 12x75  |  £209 per 6x75
92-95 AG - The 2018 Malartic Lagravière is powerful, rich and explosive, all while retaining a mid-weight sense of structure. Black cherry, plum, gravel, chocolate, leather, lavender spice and licorice all run through this driving, juicy Pessac Léognan. I very much admire the weight and substance here.

MALARTIC LAGRAVIERE BLANC  |   £460 per 12x75  |  £230 per 6x75
90-93 WS - This white offers a racy edge, but there are fuller yellow apple and shortbread notes encased here and they should emerge fully soon enough. Pretty solid feel.

ORMES DE PEZ  |   £250 per 12x75
93 Dec - This has the luxurious kick of the Lynch Bages stable and is brilliant value for this level of quality. It seems to manage this every vintage and is just such a brilliant drinking wine. 2018 is another excellent year here, with deep fruitfulness of brambled hedgerow alongside liquorice and woodsmoke. It has a polyphenol index of 84IPT, so this is full of tannins but they don't feel overpowering.

For more information or to place an order, please call on 01223 849040 or email us  (finewine@albanyvintners.com)