Bordeaux Gold

2012 Sauternes and Barsac Bargain Case

admin — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:03:14 +0000

Here is my selection of the best bargain’s from the 2012 Sauternes and Barsac vintage. And they are real bargains as, contrary to popular belief following the non-declaration of Yquem, there were parts of Sauternes and especially Barsac where making good wine was still possible. The negative climate around the vintage has meant very reasonable prices for what are some super drinking wines.

If you buy anything from 2012 then this is the case! Click HERE for 12 half bottles or HERE for the 12 bottle case. To hear why the wines are such a good buy just listen to the video below.

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Enjoy! Bill Blatch

Latest 2012 Sauternes and Barsac Releases

admin — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:52:48 +0000

After a brief break for the May holidays we have two top Sauternes and Barsac releases to report - Château Guiraud from Sauternes and Château de Myrat from Barsac. Just click HERE to find out the prices for them both and all of the other released 2012 wines.

Here are my tasting videos for both wines, Guiraud first:

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Enjoy! Bill Blatch

March of the Peyragueys!

admin — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:28:08 +0000

Unlike in Barsac making top quality 2012 Sauternes was far from easy, especially in the heart of the area focused around Yquem. Yquem decided not to declare their vintage, as did Rieussec, Suduiraut and Raymond Lafon. La Tour Blanche have produced a wonderful wine with strict selection but there are only 24 barrels, the same amount as at Guiraud, and de Fargues have only made 10 barrels!

Getting your hands on good quality and good value First Growth Sauternes has never been more tricky but the two Peyragueys, Clos Haut-Peyraguey (note the innovative pack size – very useful) and Lafaurie-Peyraguey have both released at very reasonable prices (just click HERE for all details) and, despite cripplingly small quantities again, we do have small amounts available.

Clos Haut-Peyraguey has just been taken over by Bernard Magrez of Pape Clément, La Tour Carnet and Fombrauge fame. He has great plans for the estate and has sensibly retained (and promoted) our good friend Anthony Defives. For my thoughts on Anthony’s first élévage take a look at this video clip:

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Meanwhile across the road Eric Larramona and his team have, like others, selected drastically with only 2 or 3 lots being regarded as good enough for the Grand Vin. Here are my thoughts:

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All the 2012 wines can be found by clicking - HERE! Enjoy! Bill Blatch

Best 2012 Sauternes Selection

admin — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:14:44 +0000

The best 2012 Sauternes come, as it happens, from Barsac! To make things easy for you in this difficult vintage (remember the weather was not kind to chateaux with well draining soil like Yquem) we’ve selected the very best wines and put them into a mixed case.

You can either have a case of Barsac Bottles (12 x 75cl) or, if you just want to dip your toe into the 2012 vintage, then there is no better way to do it than to buy a half case of Barsac Half Bottles (12 x 37.5cl) – just click on the links! To see all the 2012 Sauternes wines we are offering – Click Here!

Here are my thoughts on just why the three wines that make up our case (Climens, Doisy-Védrines and de Myrat) were such a great success in 2012. Enjoy! Bill Blatch

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Best 2012 Barsac Bargain Yet?

admin — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 14:52:22 +0000

Barsac provided undoubtedly one of the best terroirs for the 2012 Sauternes vintage. If Climens was the best wine in 2012 and Broustet the best value classed growth, then Chateau Liot is undoubtedly the best Barsac bargain yet for early drinking. Situated right next to Climens with the water retentive chalk subsoils, that really helped to keep fresh botrytis throughout the picking season, this is a must buy and will definitely feature in our upcoming Best Value Case. Here’s my tasting video:

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All the 2012 wines can be found by clicking – HERE!

Enjoy! Bill Blatch

Another Brilliant 2012 Barsac

admin — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:51:10 +0000

This 2012 Barsac from Chateau Broustet is both brilliant and a bargain. The 2012 Climens and Doisy-Vedrines in my post below are both in my Best Barsac Case but this wine will be one of the highlights of my upcoming Best Bargain Case – watch this space!

In my tasting video below I mention that I’m really delighted for Jérémie Gravier and the team at Vignobles de Terroir who, as can be seen in the second video, are taking great care with this property to improve both the vineyard and the winemaking. There’s a great shot in this video of the soil strata in Barsac for all budding geologists and terroir buffs!

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All the 2012 wines mentioned above are available both in bottles and half bottles by clicking – HERE Enjoy! Bill Blatch

First 2012 Sauternes En Primeur Prices – Climens, Doisy-Vedrines and La Tour Blanche

admin — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:41:42 +0000

The first 2012 Sauternes prices are out here – 2012 Sauternes En Primeur

We are not offering every wine in this difficult vintage – only the best and the best value. No wine fits this category better than Ch Climens who have produced perhaps the wine of the vintage and substantially reduced their price – the cheapest Climens on the market? Here’s my tasting video:

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And then there is the remarkable Ch Doisy-Vedrines which defied the odds in 2012 to produce an excellent wine at almost full production. Here are 2 videos – my tasting video and an interview with cellarmaster, Frédéric Deyres, who tells me exactly how they brought the vintage home using cryoextraction at precisely the right moment:

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And finally there is the remarkable Ch La Tour Blanche which produced just 24 barrels of grand vin! You’ll have to move fast if you want any of this strictly selected and well priced wine. Again here are a couple of videos to help you make your choice:

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All 2012 wines will be offered in half cases (6 bottles or 12 half bottles). Watch out too for some special mixed cases I have personally selected. You can explore all the wines offered by clicking – HERE

Enjoy! Bill Blatch

2012 Sauternes Update

admin — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 20:58:37 +0000

Prices are starting to come out for the first 2012 Sauternes châteaux En Primeur. We will let you know about the important ones in a day or two but first here is an update I filmed a couple of days ago on the vintage.

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Enjoy! Bill Blatch

2012 Yquem – Pierre Lurton Interview

admin — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 11:57:15 +0000

The big news about 2012 Sauternes is that there will be no Chateau d’Yquem. In general the vintage is good, way beyond the expectations of the market which has wrongly interpreted this decision as applying to the whole appellation. We thought, however, it would be useful for everyone to understand Yquem’s decision making first before we let you you know more about the more positive side of the vintage.

We’ve therefore interviewed Pierre Lurton at some length in the clip below. To summarise what he says, for Yquem it is all about excellence and they realised during the harvest that they were not going to get the complexity of aromatics that is associated with their wine. For others it was different, as you will see over the next few weeks, but Pierre made the early decision not to make a 2012 Yquem.

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Enjoy! Bill Blatch

2012 Sauternes – First Thoughts

admin — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 05:58:52 +0000

In the video below I give my first thoughts about the 2012 Sauternes vintage prior to some more detailed tasting notes that will appear over the next few weeks and, of course, my 2012 Sauternes Vintage Report.

It is a vintage already mired in controversy following the early decisions by Yquem and Rieussec not to release. All is, however, not what it seems and the vintage is more complicated than at first glance. For some it was close to being another superb vintage but for others it never really had a chance. All will be revealed in good time but for now here’s a taster of what is to come:

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Enjoy! Bill Blatch