Editorial
Editorial April 15th 2019
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are pleased to present you this new "Spring-Summer 2019" selection, containing 1000 carefully selected wines from Bordeaux and elsewhere in France and Europe.
This selection could also have been called "Bordeaux 2016" because we have given so much importance to the entry of the 2016 vintage in our columns. Now that they are all available, we have selected for you nearly 150 white and red wines, small châteaux and grand crus, from this formidable vintage that will be a landmark in Gironde.
Not to mention a "vintage of the century" - but maybe? -We described our amazement at these 2016 wines, the greatest Bordeaux vintage for us since 1982 (or even beyond), as soon as the first tastings were held.
This has just been greatly confirmed by the 6 tastings after bottling published last January in the international press (Decanter, Wine Spectator, Wine Advocate, Suckling, Vinous-Galloni and Vinous-Martin), accompanied by sensational notes including a 100/100 avalanche:
• rated 4 times 100/100 : Haut-Brion rouge and Mouton-Rothschild
• rated 3 times 100/100 : Cos d'Estournel, Latour, Léoville-Las Cases and Vieux-Certan
• rated twice 100/100: Lafite-Rothschild and Petrus
Everyone's comments are in unison:
• Antonio Galloni "The best 2016s are powerful, richly constituted, vibrant and of breathtaking beauty, not to say incredibly delicious and seductive."
• Neal Martin "Let's get to the point: 2016 is a fantastic, sublime and sometimes bewitching vintage."
This enthusiasm does not only concern the greatest vintages but, it is the hallmark of the very great years, also the entire Bordeaux hierarchy. For example, among those noted by Mr Galloni and Martin, here is the podium of wines that you will find throughout this catalogue between €12 and €30 per bottle:
• 93/100: Dalem and La Vieille Cure in Fronsac, Les Cruzelles in Lalande de Pomerol,
• 92/100: Charmes-Godard in white Bordeaux, Les Carmes de Rieussec in Sauternes, Les Trois Croix à Fronsac, d'Aiguilhe et Montlandrie in Côtes de Castillon, Potensac in Médoc, Lalande-Borie in Saint-Julien, Lilian-Ladouys in Saint-Estèphe,
• 91/100 : Alcée in Côtes de Castillon, Clos de Boüard in Montagne-Saint-Émilion, Charmail and Petit-Verdot de Belle-Vue in Médoc, Mauvesin-Barton in Moulis, La Gurgue and Deyrem-Valentin in Margaux.
Second wines of the crus classés, crus bourgeois, crus artisans, 2016 offers innumerable opportunities to fill its cellar with jewels at low prices in all appellations, from the most humble to the most prestigious.
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For the Tasting Offers, we have selected two beautiful Bordeaux 2014 (a left bank and a right bank) for everyday use and two great Bordeaux 2016 (a left bank and a right bank) for later:
• Second de Grée 2014, 100% Merlot for barely 13.5° of alcohol, a nugget of Libourne that produces a second wine while its vineyard is only 2.5 ha (!), at €10.00 per bottle.
• Château Belle-Vue 2014, the rising value of the southern Médoc, combining finesse and flesh, elegance and depth, for €13.00 per bottle.
• Château Berliquet 2016, the last vintage led by the Nicolas Thienpont and Stéphane Derenoncourt tandem before being bought by its neighbour Château Canon. Great terroir of the Saint-Émilion plateau at €37.80 per bottle.
• Château Malartic-Lagravière rouge 2016, a must among the Pessac-Léognan wines and at its best in 2016, while remaining at the reasonable price of 57.70 € per bottle.
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Outside Bordeaux, this proposal also sees the arrival of the latest vintage from several producers:
• 2017 vintage in Burgundy at Domaine Françoise André (Côte de Beaune bio), Domaine Pommier (Chablis bio) and Domaine de Villaine (Côte chalonnaise bio),
• 2016 vintage in the Rhône Valley at Tardieu-Laurent (from north to south) and in Spain at Dominio de Pingus (Ribera del Duero).
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Lastly, two rays of Mediterranean sunshine with the liqueurs of the Manguin distillery: Clémentine de Corse and Citron-Bergamote. Summer is approaching....