Monday 3rd June 2019

We promised you a busy week with lots of top releases...

One of the most eagerly awaited releases, Chateau Pichon Lalande is one of the most beautiful wines of the vintage with the 2018 possessing supreme elegance and length.  Released at £1656 per 12, this is one of the all-time great Pichon Lalandes with scores that place it, not undeservedly, on a par with the First Growths (3 x potential 100 points).

98-100 Dec "This has to be up there with one of the most seductive Comtesses on record
97-100 WS "Concentrated, long and very complete. One of the high water marks of the vintage."
98-100 JL "Full-bodied, rich, powerful, dense, opulent and frankly, incredibly sexy, as well as structured, stylistically it feels like a blend of 2009 and 2016 with the best attributes of each vintage."

The gorgeous second wine, renamed Reserve de Pichon Comtesse, will have a new label for 2018 similar to the Grand Vin.  One of the finest editions to date, the 2018 is released at £402 per 12 with 92-94+ from the Wine Advocate.

Ducru Beaucaillou is released at £1728 per 12.  The 2018 is a gorgeously perfumed and layered St Julien that rivals the estates 2016 with a host of high scores including a potential hundred from Jeb Dunnuck.  97-100 JD - It’s as classy as they come

Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge 2018 is released at £978 per 12 and compared by Jeb Dunnuck to the exceptional 2009 (£2000) who also awards it a potential 100 points. With 97-99+ from the Wine Advocate and 98-99 from James Suckling, This is one of the finest ever Smiths.  97-100 JD "reminds me of the 2009 with its opulent, powerful style. It's a brilliant wine from this terrific estate and up with the top wines in the vintage."  Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc is also released at £1020 per 12 and is "unquestionably one of the whites of the vintage".  Only made in very small quantities, production was halved in 2018.

Chateau Leoville Las Cases is a very strong candidate for wine of the vintage with Potential 100 point scores from the Wine Advocate, Wine Spectator, James Suckling, Jeff Leve and Jeb Dunnuck!  The 2018 is a beautifully poised, powerful wine with incredible depth and purity of fruit that the Chateau believes to be even better than their stellar 2016 (£2300) and offered at a slight discount.  Rarely has a wine united the critics behind it so unanimously, with a string of 100 point scores this is undoubtedly one of the greatest ever vintages of Leoville Las Cases.

98-100 WA - epically long, amazingly nuanced finish. Simply breathtaking.
99-100 JS - OMG. This shows amazing depth of fruit... The château says 2016 plus, plus.
98-100 JD - one of the greatest young Bordeaux I’ve been lucky enough to taste

Petit Lion is the "magnificent second wine" that has really delivered in 2018, capturing some of the magic from the Grand Vin in an earlier drinking style.

Finally from the famous Pomerol plateau, next to La Fleur Petrus, we have Chateau Le Gay at £1044 per 12, a wine that scores highly across the board in 2018.  94-97 AG - One of the highlights of the vintage, the 2018 Le Gay is fabulous.

Prices

DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU |   £1728 per 12x75  |  £864 per 6x75
97-100 JD - It’s as classy as they come, boasting a deep purple/blue color as well as awesome notes of pure crème de cassis, smoke tobacco, crushed rock-like minerality, and violets. Haute couture at its finest, with full-bodied richness, building structure and tannins, and remarkable purity, it’s certainly in the same ballpark as the magical 2016. It will be approachable in just 4-5 years yet keep for 40+.

GAY |   £1088 per 12x75  |  £544 per 6x75
94-97 AG - One of the highlights of the vintage, the 2018 Le Gay is fabulous. Crème de cassis, new leather, tobacco, minty and dried flowers all race out of the glass, but what impresses most is the wine's combination of fruit richness and vertical explosiveness.

LEOVILLE LAS CASES |   £2172 per 12x75  |  £1086 per 6x75
98-100 LPB - Very deep purple-black in color, it is a little closed to begin, slowly emerging from the glass to reveal subtle woodsmoke, violets, tilled soil and underbrush scents over a core of warm cassis, wild blueberries and redcurrant jelly plus hints of rare beef and iron ore. Full-bodied, rich, super concentrated and bursting with latent energy, this is an atomic bomb waiting to go off in your mouth. It has a rock-solid foundation of firm, very ripe, very finely grained tannins and bold freshness supporting the muscular fruit through the epically long, amazingly nuanced finish. Simply breathtaking.

PEIT LION DE LEOVILLE LAS CASES |   £478 per 12x75
92-94 WA - Deep garnet-purple colored, it gives a wonderfully perfumed nose of violets, star anise and fragrant soil over a core of plum preserves, blackberry pie and blueberry compote plus a waft of spice cake. The palate is rich, seductive and spicy with plush, rounded tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and opulent. Love it!

PICHON LALANDE |   £1656 per 12x75  |  £828 per 6x75
97-100 WS - This one nails it in 2018, with saturated, almost sappy kirsch, plum and blackberry preserve flavors at the core, inlaid with sweet tobacco, singed vanilla, worn cedar and fresh earth notes. A bolt of graphite provides support. Concentrated, long and very complete. One of the high water marks of the vintage.

RESERVE DE PICHON COMTESSE |   £402 per 12x75
92-94+ WA - 2018 Reserve de la Comtesse opens slowly to offers glimpses and dusty soil, Sichuan pepper, garrigue and tobacco over a core of warm black cherries, cassis and blackberry pie plus a waft of crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is packed with juicy black fruits and loads of earth/mineral nuances, finishing with lovely freshness and a quiet intensity. Very impressive.

SMITH HAUT LAFITTE ROUGE |   £978 per 12x75  |  £489 per 6x75
97-100 JD - 2018 Château Smith Haut Lafitte reveals a saturated purple color as well as rock star notes of crème de cassis, blueberries, graphite, crushed rocks, and spice. Deep, profoundly concentrated, beautifully seamless and textured on the palate, it reminds me of the 2009 with its opulent, powerful style. It's a brilliant wine from this terrific estate and up with the top wines in the vintage. Hats off to director Fabien Teitgen who continues to make an elegant yet powerful, uncompromising style of wine.

SMITH HAUT LAFITTE BLANC |   £1020 per 12x75  |  £510 per 6x75
97-100 JD - rock star notes of crème de cassis, blueberries, graphite, crushed rocks, and spice. Deep, profoundly concentrated, beautifully seamless and textured on the palate, it reminds me of the 2009 with its opulent, powerful style. It's a brilliant wine from this terrific estate and up with the top wines in the vintage. Hats off to director Fabien Teitgen who continues to make an elegant yet powerful, uncompromising style of wine.

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