30 april 2024
C'est parti! Château Léoville Las Cases zet de toon met 40% prijsverlaging!
Afgelopen week bevond Team De Bruijn zich in het hart van Bordeaux voor de langverwachte En Primeurweek. Te midden van de adembenemende châteaux proefden we de veelbelovende wijnen van 2023. En onze eerste indruk? Veel van de jonge wijnen uit 2023 stralen met hun frisheid, volheid, elegante stijl en levendige energie. Maar wat deze jaargang ook zeer mooi maakt, zijn de opvallend lagere alcoholpercentages. Dit resulteert in een prachtige balans en finesse.
Bordeaux heeft duidelijk zijn authentieke karakter hervonden na jaren van zonnige dominantie. De wijnen weerspiegelen zuiver de terroirs en benadrukken de unieke stijlen van elk château.
De kwaliteit van de wijnen is kortom uitstekend. Wat de prijzen betreft, staan de châteauxeigenaren voor de uitdaging om ze te verlagen om de interesse in de jaargang 2023 aan te wakkeren. Met een moeilijke marktsituatie en wereldwijde economische onzekerheid is het verlagen van de prijzen een noodzakelijke stap om de verkoop te stimuleren.
Château Léoville Las Cases zette vandaag de toon met een prijsverlaging van 40%. Dit is een mooie kans op voortreffelijke wijnen voor zeer aantrekkelijke prijzen.
Met de veelbelovende prijzen op de horizon, is dit het perfecte moment om de opwinding rondom Bordeaux 2023 te omarmen en te genieten van een glas geschiedenis in wording.
We kunnen niet wachten om de prachtige nieuwe releases met jullie te delen en kijken reikhalzend uit naar de komende weken, wanneer ze hun debuut maken. Ook zijn we verheugd om enkele proefnotities te delen van de wijnen die in de aankomende tijd gereleased gaan worden. Deze notities zijn het resultaat van de proeverijen tijdens de En Primeur week en geven een beeld van de nog jonge Bordeauxs.
Eric de Bruijn en Laurent Richet
Château | Appellation | Notes |
Château Angludet | Margaux | Seamless wine. Fantastic texture on the palate with perfectly ripe fruit that come juicy on the tongue. Elegance in a bottle, smooth and makes you happy |
Château Brane Cantenac | Margaux | Wow. A big wine. An intense expressive nose and a smooth juicy palate. Ripe dark fruit, cherries, plum and cassis come to mind. Hints of cedar and vanilla. Can't wait to see this bottle again in 40 years |
Château Giscours | Margaux | A marvelous wine. As would Alexander van Beek would say 'Sexy'. It has finesse, length, elegance, energy with lovely hint of cherry pip bringing that fresh bitter energy. |
Château Rauzan-Ségla | Margaux | A well presented wine with ripe cassis character and harmonious structure. |
Château du Tertre | Margaux | Well crafted wine with elegance, length. Juicy cassis fruit with plums and strawberries. Also a hint of menthol. |
Château Chasse-Spleen | Moulis-en-Médoc | Usually a favorite of mine and it didn't disappoint. Well crafted wine with a beautiful structure, ripe fruit and energy. Complex flavors of ripe red and black cherries, Strawberries, cassis plums and touch of vanilla. |
Château Cantemerle | Moulis-en-Médoc | It has a great aromatic and perfumed nose with a good attack in the mouth as well as a good finish. |
Château Clerc Milon | Pauillac | A smooth, soft and elegant wine with a very juicy plum character and ripe luscious cassis fruit |
Château Duhart-Milon | Pauillac | Production reaching 45hl/ha. A well crafted wine with elegance, pleasant ripe fruit, almost juicy tannins, and a fascinating character of fresh strawberry jam that isn't sweet but more that sort of fresh fruit character that shows a beautiful concentration of flavor. |
Château Grand-Puy Ducasse | Pauillac | at first the wine shows a touch of over ripeness on the nose. The palate shows more a ripe fruit with lovely tannin structure, spices and lovely length |
Château Lynch-Bages | Pauillac | The production was just under the average production of the appellation set at 45hl/hl while they produced 43hl/ha. So quite a good result. The wine is Big, perfumed with a touch of over ripe fruits. Concentrated wine with a strong tannic structure and long. Ready for many years to wait. |
Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse | Pauillac | Elegant wine with finesse and length. A juicy mouth feel govern by expression of dark fruit such a cassis and blackberry. |
Domaine de Chevalier | Pessac-Léognan | Great ripe red fruit with a hint of chocolate and elegant tannins. Concentration and length with a hint of menthol |
Château de Fieuzal | Pessac-Léognan | The 50% merlot dominates the character of the wine. It has a slightly baked plum character, but at the same time good balance and finish. |
Château Haut-Bailly | Pessac-Léognan | Fantastic balance. Perfumed yet reserved, elegant yet characterful, with great balance, formidable length. It already gives immediate pleasure although it will show itself as being immensely rewarding after a good 20 years of age. Already showing some complexity with notes ripe fruit such as cassis, plum and blackberry with some earthy notes of graphite and slate, as well as some spices. |
Haut-Bailly II | Pessac-Léognan | Second wine. A wine full of character, energy yet 'gourmand', 'charmante' due to the great selection made with the merlot harvested at perfect ripeness. (as would Alexander van Beek would say, it is Sexy). Aromatic, perfumed concentrated, well structure with great earthy notes and a crunchy fruitiness. |
Château Larrivet Haut-Brion | Pessac-Léognan | A wine I was looking forward to taste following the UGCB tasting in Amsterdam earlier this year with the 2021 which was really well made against the odds of the vintage. It didn't disappoint. Generous with a velvety texture on the palate. Fantastic balance with aromas of chocolate and coffee intertwined with cassis and earthy tones. In the mouth it shows generosity, structure, length, and unmistakable energy. |
Château Pape Clément | Pessac-Léognan | Feels quite marked by the wood. Great energy, earthy and dry. In some sense, a classic Bordeaux. |
L'Hospitalet de Gazin | Pomerol | Quite forward with its wood expression on the palate. Quite a bright and refreshing acidity with a tone of the red fruit charcter such as Cherries and Raspeberries. Quite framed in its structure |
Château Lafleur-Gazin | Pomerol | A complete wine. It has balance, power and elegance. Perhaps a touch showy on the alcohol. Great ripe fruit with lovely use of the oak framed with a refreshing acidity. |
Château La Grave | Pomerol | Ripe plums with a floral character. The palate comes across juicy with a well balanced acidity, an elegnat structure and a touch nutty |
Château Latour à Pomerol | Pomerol | Ripe, concentrated and chocolaty aromas. The palate is juicy with dark plums, milk chocolate with a refreshing acidity. Well balanced |
Château Certan de May | Pomerol | Over ripe plums aromas. The palate is ripe too. They did a good job with the use of the Cabernets to balance the Merlot |
Château Hosanna | Pomerol | Aromas of coffee bean as you walk in a coffee roastery. Quite charming. Lovely juicy palate with chocolate note with notes of figs and ripe plums |
Château La Fleur-Pétrus | Pomerol | The aromas are a bit shy. The palate is also a bit closed. The texture and structure is well balanced, long, elegant, complete opening up to some lovely ripe fruit and good tension |
Château Trotanoy | Pomerol | Aromas and flavours are quite shy at the beginning. Seem showing more its structure and a delicate ripe fruit that feels juicy yet over taken by the oak for now. |
Château de Sales | Pomerol | Ripe plums with hints of cassis and smoky tones. Deep earthy character in the after taste. |
Château Clinet | Pomerol | Delicate on the palate but has a good structure |
Château Gazin | Pomerol | They said they had no issues with the mildew. It has resulted in a rich texture wine with ripe fruit toward a jammy character yet smooth. |
Clos Fourtet | Saint-Émilion | A wine of great class. Fruity with flavors of ripe dark plums. Elegant and juicy mouthfeel. |
Château la Gaffelière | Saint-Émilion | Flavors of over ripe fruits and a sort of seaweed character. |
Château Pavie Macquin | Saint-Émilion | Wow. Based on 82% Merlot this wines is juicy, super elegant, smooth and doesn’t show any feel of alcohol. A well crafted wine. |
Château Ormes de Pez | Saint-Estephe | Super aromatic ripe fruit with hint of graphite and iron oxide. The palate comes across juicy, easy with character of plums and chocolate |
Château de Pez | Saint-Estephe | Although the nose present welcoming fruity tones, the palate has more to do with the structure of the cabernet sauvignon with affirmative structure and quite dry |
Château Phélan-Ségur | Saint-Estephe | Harvested their grapes in two times. First the Merlot, then took a break before harvesting the Cabernets mid-October. Although they have waited to great full ripeness the wine shows a very high structure of tannin and a just ripe character of fruit while most of the other Château express ripe juicy fruit and elegant mouth feel. |
Château Léoville Las Cases Château Beychevelle | Saint-Julien Saint-Julien | The 2023 Leoville Las Cases presents a deep garnet-purplehue. With a gentle swirl, it releases aromas of ripe blackcurrants, black cherries, and mulberries, complemented by subtle hints of iris, crushed stones,rich soil, and dark chocolate. On the palate, it offers a medium body with tightly knit layers of blackberries and abundant mineral touches, supported by robust, fine-grained tannins and excellent tension. The finish is prolonged,marked by a distinctive iron note, promising an impressive longevity. A brilliant wine made of class, power and energy. They are moving towards changing the ratio of Merlot in favor to the Cabernet Sauvignon. It shows here its grace and texture. Deep cassis tones and smooth palate yet expressive. |
Château Lagrange | Saint-Julien | This wine shows a perfect ripeness of fruit and a beautiful balance. |
Château Léoville Barton | Saint-Julien | Need to taste a new sample |
Château Léoville Poyferré | Saint-Julien | All about elegance, finesse and balance. |
Château Talbot | Saint-Julien | Marvelous concentration without being too much. Great craftmanship. |
Château La Tour Figeac | St-Emilion Grand Cru | Freshly crushed red fruits aromas that feel promising. |