Btls

Avail.

Btl

Size

Wine
Where available, tasting scores and notes are by Robert Parker (RP) and taken from his website www.erobertparker.com  or Stephen Tanzer (ST) from www.wineaccess.com

Year

Price per
Bottle
including
VAT

Tasting
Score/Notes
Best Drinking

BRANE-CANTENAC
Margaux

RP - This stunning, evolved, dark plum/ruby-hued 2008 reveals aromas of forest floor, sweet black and red currants, licorice and roasted herbs. Classic, elegant and medium to full-bodied, it provides a sexy, complex, intellectual as well as hedonistic turn-on.

CANTENAC-BROWN
Margaux

RP - The greatest Cantenac Brown I have ever tasted, this monumental effort possesses enormous concentration, with loads of black and blue fruits intermixed with damp earth and forest floor. I have never seen a Cantenac Brown so seamless, so powerful, yet at the same time, so elegant and densely complex. They have certainly done something here that has not been accomplished over the last three decades I have been tasting this estate’s wines. Opaque purple in color and full-bodied, this big-time sleeper of the vintage merits serious attention for the first time in my professional career.

BLASSON D'ISSAN
Margaux

2nd Wine of Chateau D'Issan
The top wine currently sells for approx. £58 a bottle! So this represents excellent value.

Wine Spectator - A floral, perfumy style, with a range of red fruit—currant, cherry and raspberry—laced with pretty spice notes on the finish.

BLASSON D'ISSAN
Margaux

2nd Wine of Chateau D'Issan
The top wine currently sells for approx. £49 a bottle! So this represents excellent value.

Wine Spectator - This shows perfumy lilac and steeped black cherry on the front end, with darker toasty cedar, black currant and espresso notes emerging on the finish. Offers sinewy structure, but solid flesh.

D'ISSAN
Margaux

RP - A complete, medium to full-bodied, exquisite Margaux from this medieval, moat-encircled, compellingly beautiful estate in the southern Medoc, D’Issan’s 2010 is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Merlot. The deep, gravelly soils mixed with clay have provided extraordinary aromatics. The yields were ridiculously low (22 hectoliters per hectare) and the wine tips the scaled at 13.7% natural alcohol. Production was small after the selection for the grand vin, and the result is a dense, purple-coloured wine with beautiful aromatics of spring flowers, blueberries and black raspberries as well as hints of cassis, tar and charcoal. The wine is gorgeously pure, well-balanced, and soft enough to be approached in 4-5 years or cellared for 25-30.

D'ISSAN
Margaux

RP - A strong effort from proprietor Emmanuel Cruse, d’Issan’s 2009 was fashioned from minuscule yields of 18 hectoliters per hectare, and its 13.7% natural alcohol set a record at this estate. Composed of 62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot, it exhibits a classic Margaux fragrance of acacia flowers/violets, blueberries, cassis, licorice and camphor. Opulent and full-bodied with silky tannins as well as a rich, dense style.

GISCOURS
Margaux

RP -  A beautiful wine, stunningly opulent, accessible and almost atypically forward, it is plump and delicious already, and in that sense, it is almost reminiscent of the 2009. Deep ruby/plum/purple, with juicy black raspberry and black currant fruit as well as hints of cedar, licorice, forest floor and underbrush, the 2010 is medium to full-bodied, layered, round and impossible to resist already.

GISCOURS
Margaux

RP - The finest Giscours in my professional career (I said the same thing from barrel), this dense purple wine has a stunning nose of burning embers, charcoal, crème de cassis, new saddle leather and damp, forest floor notes. It is full-bodied, with exceptionally sweet, well-integrated tannins and a multi-dimensional, almost skyscraper-like mid-palate and finish. With its low acidity and remarkable substance and depth, this gorgeous wine should age beautifully for 20-30 years.

GISCOURS
Margaux

RP - Dark plum/garnet, this elegant, medium to full-bodied, beguiling, seductive 2008 is a sleeper of the vintage. Round and silky-smooth with lovely black cherry and black currant fruit imbued with touches of smoke, herbs and earth.

GISCOURS
Margaux

RP- Giscours has been on a hot streak, fashioning full-bodied, powerful wines. The forward 2005 reveals notes of chocolate, sweet cherries, plums, figs, and dried herbs in its opulent, corpulent personality. With decent acidity, huge glycerine and concentration, and a long, fleshy, heady finish, it possesses an in-your-face, flamboyant style that is somewhat out of character for the vintage. It is an impressive, challenging, hedonistic as well as intellectually satisfying claret that should drink well reasonably young.

MAGNUMS

GISCOURS
Margaux

RP - A big, smoky, tapenade, plum, black currant, and spring flower-scented nose is followed by a medium to full-bodied, textured, layered wine with sweet tannin, low acidity, and impressive concentration as well as depth. This is a gorgeous, hedonistic yet complex Margaux to drink now and over the next 12-14 years

GISCOURS
Margaux

RP - The deep plum/purple-coloured 2001 exhibits notes of melted liquorice, barbecue spices, violets, black currants, and a hint of blackberries. Medium-bodied and fleshy, with a cunning style that sneaks up on the palate, building in increments, this pure, rich, concentrated yet elegant, charming effort provides further evidence of this chateau’s strong rebound.

BIN END PRICE

KIRWAN
Margaux

RP - A big, powerful Margaux that should age for 20+ years, this inky purple-coloured wine exhibits notes of spring flowers intermixed with blackberries, raspberries and cassis. Some lead pencil shavings and toasty oak are also present in this powerful yet at the same time very pure, textured, full-throttle Kirwan. It needs about 5-7 years of cellaring and will be among the longest-lived wines of the vintage.

LA LAGUNE
Haut Medoc

RP - A sleeper of the vintage, this sexy, charming, Burgundian-styled wine offers fleshy black cherry notes intermixed with camphor, flowers, and pain grille. Supple tannin, velvety texture, and luscious aromatics as well as flavours result in an alluring claret.

BIN END PRICE

CHEVALIER DE LASCOMBES
Margaux

2nd Wine of Chateau Lascombes
The top wine currently sells for approx. £65 a bottle! So this represents excellent value.

No RP/WS Reviews as yet
 

ALTER EGO PALMER
Margaux

2nd Wine of Chateau Palmer
The top wine currently sells for approx. £240 a bottle! So this represents excellent value.

RP- A second wine that has improved dramatically is the Alter Ego de Palmer. The 2009, a blend of equal parts Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, exhibits aromas of blackberries, cassis, chocolate, roasted espresso and a smoky/foresty note. This hedonistic, juicy, succulent Margaux is meant to be consumed in its first 10-15 years of life.

SEGLA
Margaux

2nd Wine of Chateau Rauzan-Segla
The top wine currently sells for approx. £75.00 a bottle; this represents real value!

WS - Blackberry, liquorice and spice aromas follow through to a medium-to-full body, with fine tannins and a currant aftertaste.

CHATEAU RAUZAN-SEGLA
Margaux

RP - To reiterate, the 2010 Rauzan Segla is like a super-duper version of the 1986. Displaying fabulous density, an inky purple color and a superb nose of forest floor with a hint of menthol as well as loads of crème de cassis, mocha and touches of chocolate and subtle oak, this full-bodied, deep, concentrated wine represents only 45% of the estate’s production. It is certainly not for those who can’t wait a few years for it to round into shape, as I suspect it needs at least 5-8 years of bottle-age, but it should last for half a century or more.

CHATEAU RAUZAN-SEGLA
Margaux

RP - A classic Margaux, this blend of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon and 43% Merlot reveals a dense plum/blue/purple color in addition to a sumptuous perfume of subtle new oak interwoven with underbrush, black currants, black raspberries, spring flowers, and a hint of dusty, loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied with sweet but abundant tannin, and beautiful purity, texture and equilibrium, the 2009 Rauzan Segla will provide enjoyable drinking over the next three decades.

CHATEAU RAUZAN-SEGLA
Margaux

RP - The 2008 Rauzan-Segla (62% Cabernet Sauvignon and 38% Merlot) was made from 45% of the production. It is a beautiful wine in this vintage, not nearly as powerful and structured as the 2010, but it has complex notes of sweet red and black fruits, unsmoked cigar tobacco, spice box and a hint of very subtle wood. The complex perfume is followed by a dark ruby/plum-coloured wine with beautifully sweet tannins, a silky, medium to full-bodied mouthfeel, and a long finish. This outstanding Margaux should drink nicely for 15-20 years.

CHATEAU RAUZAN-SEGLA
Margaux

RP - This wine has become more structured and backward since I tasted it last year. Only 48% of the production made it into the final blend (55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, and 6% Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc). Revealing loads of muscle along with floral-infused sweet black currant fruit, superb density, high tannin, and an austere, but impressively pure and textured mouthfeel.

TOUR CARNET
Haut Medoc

RP - This dense purple wine displays notes of charcoal, subtle toast and white chocolate as well as blueberry and blackberry liqueur intermixed with hints of graphite and licorice. Dense, full-bodied, unctuously textured, and quite long and thick, this concentrated, impressively endowed wine is silky-textured and already accessible. However, I suspect its best days are at least 5-7 years ahead of it.

The Winemakers Collection No.1
by Michel Rolland
Haut Medoc

RP - This is the first release of a special project of Jeremy Renard and the proprietor of Chateau d’Arsac in Margaux. Under Renard’s guidance, each year a single vineyard parcel from Chateau d’Arsac is completely controlled by a single, world-renowned winemaker. Michel Rolland launched the project, and he has been followed by other luminaries in the wine world. Rolland had the good fortune to benefit from an excellent vintage, and the result is a 5,000-case lot of sensational wine. It offers a dense ruby/purple hue along with a smoky perfume of sweet cherries, blackberries, roasted coffee, and a hint of tobacco leaf. There is a seamless integration of acidity, tannin, and wood in this complete, full-bodied wine.

The Winemakers Collection No.4
by Stephane Derenoncourt
Haut Medoc

RP - Stephane Derenoncourt’s Cuvee Numero 4 is a more forward style with velvety tannins, and sweet black currant and black cherry fruit intermixed with subtle smoke and licorice. This well-made, medium to full-bodied effort should drink gorgeously well young, yet evolve for 10-15 years.