Blue Chip Burgundy (Carpe Diem)

Tuesday 24 January 2012 – 13:35

Jancis Robinson’s blog, the Purple Pages (link to article) concisely charts
the harvest, arrival and meteoric ascendancy of the recent 2010 vintage,Burgundy 2010, En Primeur, Comte Georges de Vogüé, Burgundy 2002
“How 2010 Burgundies turned a corner”. But with all the recent excitement, it’s easy to overlook some of the really heavy hitters that are still on our list from previous vintages, or are at the time of posting anyway – the sort of names that, unfortunately, appeal to investors as well to the world’s best-heeled drinkers…

Really exciting Burgundies that are languishing in the dark recesses of our bonded warehouse, often even surprise us…

A quick trawl through today’s listings, for instance, reveals a case of the sublime, but quite obviously hidden gem ’07 Volnay from Domaine des Comtes Lafon for £588.00 for a case of 12 bottles under bond…. here

Or how about ’02 Chambolle-Musigny from Domaine Comte de Vogüé for just £131 per bottle, here Although with such limited stock, it really is a case (sic) of first come, first served…

By Kat Wiggins | Posted in Burgundy 2010, Offers | Comments (0)

Burgundy demand likely to outstrip supply for 2010s

Friday 20 January 2012 – 12:14

Burgundy 2010, La Tache, DRC, Christies, BBR, Goedhuis, Fine+Rare, Fine Wine

 

The various UK Merchants’ Burgundy Tastings across London last week have done much to bolster the notion that 2010 is another milestone in artisan wine production from the region. Allen Meadows’ Burghound has been as bold to suggest that “the wines are superior to their 2009 counterparts, particularly surprising given the challenging weather conditions that growers faced in 2010″.

The Burgundians are less business like than the Bordelais, Burgundy producers ultimately want their wines to be bought by private clients who store them carefully and genuinely appreciate them, but there is undoubtedly more pressure than ever on allocations and it appears this is on the increase this year.

The majority of growers overcame the challenging weather elements and produced excellent wines, and although yields were down between an estimated 30- 40% on 2009, the net result is stock is in limited supply and buyers may need deeper pockets this year. Prices of the revered DRC wines on world auction markets are reaching stratospheric levels – proving that fine wine is a truly global commodity with cases of exceptional vintages La Tache, for instance, selling at auction last month in London, New York & Hong Kong for £60,000 (Sterling) per case.

Live-Ex on their website quote “Trading members have reported modest price rises of five to ten per cent across all quality levels. Of course, where vineyards (and hence production) were severely affected by the adverse weather, increases can be as high as 40 per cent. All of the fine wine traders that we spoke to said that demand for the Premier Cru and Grand Cru reds was outstripping supply. According to one merchant, “Price is definitely not the problem. Because yields were so low, not enough stock is
available.” Buyers who have not been able to secure allocations will have to hunt for stock on the secondary market, where prices are likely to rise quickly.”

Our wines are now listed here with prices and while the majority are on allocation presently, there are some remarkable value wines to purchase.

By Kat Wiggins | Posted in Burgundy 2010, Lay & Wheeler News, Offers, Wine News | Comments (0)

The Burgundy 2010 Growers’ Tasting – a thank you…

Friday 13 January 2012 – 11:17

A huge thank you to both customers and producers alike for what was a momentous Lay & Wheeler Burgundy En Primuer Tasting 2012turnout last night at our annual Burgundy Growers’ Tasting at the Glaziers’ Hall in London. The venue was at full capacity and the daytime journalist tasting was swiftly followed by the evening event, at which the wines from the 33 producers showed magnificently.

Many of the wines are in strictly limited supply and we are certain to be oversubscribed, so it is always necessary for us to allocate rare and limited stocks. If you haven’t already placed an order, we would ask you to let us know which wines you are interested in, so that we can allocate as fairly as possible. To receive a full list of the prices, please click this link… Burgundy 2010 EOI Tasting Form, then please call us on 01473 313 300 to discuss which wines you would like to purchase.

By Kat Wiggins | Posted in Burgundy 2010, Offers, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments (0)

2012 January Sale – Now On…!

Tuesday 3 January 2012 – 11:37

Lay & Wheeler January Wine Sale

 

Our ever-popular January Sale is now online, offering substantial discounts on great wines from sought-after vintages and producers. Starting at just £8.15 a bottle, this is great opportunity to secure some delicious fine wines to enjoy now or in the future.

All of the wines featured are priced duty paid for immediate delivery and available to buy online, or feel free to call our team of Fine Wine Consultants on 01473 313 300

By Kat Wiggins | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Burgundy 2010: Expression of Interest now online

Thursday 15 December 2011 – 16:06

Our tasting notes and vintage report for the 2010Burgundy vintage are now available online and can be viewed here.  Burgundy 2010 En Primeur from Lay & Wheeler

As usual, we will be running an Expression of Interest system for this vintage, as we will almost certainly be over subscribed. We will work on allocations after the Burgundy Tasting on 12th January and will endeavour to let our clients know the wines that have been allocated thereafter.

If you have any questions or would like any further information or recommendations, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our sales team, all of whom have visited the region to taste the wines. Please call +44 1473 313300 to talk to a member of the team or email fine.wine@laywheeler.com.

By Kat Wiggins | Posted in Burgundy 2010, Offers | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Burgundy 2010: Overview and Tasting

Tuesday 29 November 2011 – 15:25

With the flurry of activity that there has been recently, our trip to Burgundy seems somewhat distant, but fortunately the wines are so memorable that we have no problems recalling those that we tasted.Burgundy 2010, Wine Tasting, Burgundy En Primeur

It is always difficult after one good vintage to find oneself singing the praises of the next and yet it is a position in which we have found ourselves for Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhône alike when comparing the 2009 and 2010 vintages.

The 2010 Burgundies were almost-universally a delight to taste. The one quality about which you will hear us wax lyrical in our tasting notes is the freshness. This was without doubt the hallmark of the vintage, giving the fruit nature of both whites and reds a lovely sense of vibrancy and drive.

Low yields caused by somewhat inclement spring weather, a warm (but not hot) summer and cool nights, created ideal conditions for the resulting wines to be complex, classic and incredibly well balanced: ripe, without being overblown, structured, without being austere.

Additionally, the subtlety and balance of this vintage have allowed the unique nature of the individual vineyards to be evident in the glass. This terroir-driven style seems to be one of the characteristics that has most pleased the winemakers, who strive to make wines that express their origins, in terms of vintage, climate, domaine and geography.

Our 2010 Burgundy En Primeur tasting is on 12th January 2012. This is the perfect opportunity to taste the wines from this vintage, as well as to meet many of the producers to discuss the vintage and their domaines. The wines need to be tasted to be believed, so if you can attend, secure your tickets now.

Venue: Glaziers Hall, SE1 9DD
Time: 6pm-8pm
Tickets: £30 per person

Tickets can be purchased online here, by telephone on +44 1473 313300 or email at sales@laywheeler.com.

By Kat Wiggins | Posted in Burgundy 2010, Lay & Wheeler News, Offers | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Wines for Christmas Drinking and Giving

Thursday 24 November 2011 – 10:53

Christmas Wine, Xmas Gifts, Free Delivery Wine

Christmas is only a few weeks away and, with that in mind, we have put together a temptingly festive list of fine wines. From mature Bordeaux to crisp white Burgundyand beautifully presented Champagne, there are plenty of treats to wrap for your loved ones or to grace your table.

Impeccably sourced and stored, all are available by the bottle (with the exception of the gift packs of Champagne), are perfect to drink this year, and are competitively priced, with free delivery on all orders of six bottles of more.

The full offer can be viewed here, but as a taster, here are some of the wines we have selected:

Louis Roederer, Cristal Champagne, Christmas Gifts 2011Red Bordeaux, including 2000 Potensac, 2002 Langoa-Barton, 1995 Pichon-Baron and 1995 Rauzan-Ségla.
White Burgundy, including 2009 Chablis, Comte Lafon Maconnais and great whites from Darviot-Perrin, Patrick Javillier and Etienne Sauzet.
Champagne, including gift packs from Cristal and Taittinger
Other whites from Austria, Loire Valley and Bordeaux
Other reds from Italy, the Rhône

***Last day for guaranteed pre-Christmas delivery is 16th December***

By Kat Wiggins | Posted in Offers | Comments (1)

Alsace 2009 – Albert Boxler

Wednesday 9 November 2011 – 16:13
Domaine Boxler, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Austrian Wine

As we release the 2009 wines from Albert Boxler, our Buying Assistant and envoy to the region back in July, Edwina,  shares her thoughts on this sometimes under-valued corner of the wine world and on this brilliant producer, an old favourite of Lay and Wheeler’s. For specific details on the range of wines offered, click here. 

Alsace is one of the great, unsung treasures of the wine world.  The old Alsatian wine villages have a timeless beauty; The predominant grape varieties are German and, unusually for France, it is these which take pride of place on the label.  Gewürztraminer and Riesling grow alongside Muscat, Pinot Gris and, less frequently, Pinot Noir, on a patchwork of different soil types and aspects, often just a stone’s throw apart.  There is a greater diversity of soils and subsoils here than in any other major wine region of France.  Furthermore, the unique, warm climate with its limited rainfall is ideal for a slow, extended ripening season, which contributes to wines with elegant, complex aromas.  The unmistakable influence of ‘terroir’ has never been more significant.
Across France, 2009 was a recognisably superb vintage and nowhere more so than in Alsace.  The previous three vintages in this region had all possessed significantly high levels of acidity but 2009, by contrast, is more moderate, with levels comparable with 2005.  Consequently, the resultant wines show real grace, sophistication and balance.

Boxler, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Austrian WineDomaine Albert Boxler is a 300-year-old estate situated in the small town of Niedermorschwihr. The domaine is today in the talented hands of Jean Boxler, who cites his father as being instrumental in his development as a winemaker. Domaine Boxler possesses vines in the Grands Crus of Brand (a very warm site producing richer wines) and Sommerberg (cooler, producing finer, nervier wines) – indeed 80% of their vineyards are classified Grand Cru. In a true reflection of Jean’s philosophy on wine, the domaine’s wines are pure in nature and classic in style, he comments that they are neither traditional nor modern, just natural and expressive.

By LudovicSurina | Posted in Lay & Wheeler News, Offers, Wine Knowledge | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Burgundy 2010 – Preview

Friday 4 November 2011 – 16:40

Burgundy 2010, Burgundy En PrimeurAs I write, two teams of Lay & Wheeler’s sales and buying teams are currently in Burgundy, tasting the 2010 vintage. Another team will be travelling out on Monday, to ensure that we have had plenty of opportunity to visit as many domaines as possible.

Like the Bordeaux and Rhône from the same vintages, it appears thatBurgundyhas excelled in 2010 – albeit producing a smaller volume of wine than in previous years. Reports from the teams currently tasting are almost universally positive, with perhaps unsurprising love for luminaries like Ghislaine Barthod and Sylvain Cathiard. However, great praise has also been forthcoming for Domaine Jean Grivot’s encapsulation of the vintage’s hallmark freshness and ripeness, Domaine Humbert Frère’s precise and beautifully textured style and the wines from Patrick Javillier, described by one of our consultants as “always very good, but as fine a set of wines as I can remember”.

Our tasting notes and vintage report will be published in early December, but we will be writing a couple of reports of our tastings in the meantime, so keep an eye on this blog for more information.

By Kat Wiggins | Posted in Burgundy 2010, Offers, Wine News | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Robert Parker’s View on Rhône 2010

Wednesday 2 November 2011 – 10:26

Robert Parker, Rhone 2010

Although we have been offering the 2010 vintage Châteauneuf-du Pape for a couple of weeks now, it is always interesting to see Robert Parker’s scores when they come out. We knew from our own tastings that the 2010 vintage was extraordinary and our opinions are supported in his report in The Wine Advocate this week:

“This is a great vintage that comes close in quality to 2007 in the southern Rhône. Some producers think 2010 eclipses 2007 because of the wines’ vivid freshness and focus. Throughout the southern Rhône, the hallmarks of the vintage are very dense purple, sometimes even blue/black colors as well as higher acid levels that have not been seen since 2004 and 2001. In fact, 2010′s paradox is that I can’t remember a vintage so concentrated, powerful and rich that also has such zesty acidity….

2010 Coudelet de Beaucastel The 2010s will have significant aging potential, which is obvious in the level of tannins, but the tannins are sweet with exceptional elegance and finesse. The ratio of high extractive and phenolic skins to the juice has produced wines of extraordinary intensity, freshness, aromatic potential and obvious longevity. This is another great vintage that offers an embarrassment of riches for this region that has enjoyed a succession of extraordinary years… Add the possibility of a trifecta in 2011, and readers can see why more and more importers and consumers are beating a path to these outstanding wines that offer a terrific ratio in terms of value and pleasure, as well as the potential for moderate evolution in a wine collection.”

Our full Rhône 2010 offer will be in Spring 2012, but we still have some volumes of the early-released Châteauneufs from Beaucastel, Clos des Papes and Vieux Télégraphe available, with prices and the relevant scores below:

Wine Price Score
Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe £180 per case of 6 bottles in bond 91-94
Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Château de Beaucastel £279 per case of 6 bottles in bond 92-94+
Coudoulet de Beaucastel, Château de Beaucastel,
Côtes du Rhône		 £126 per case of 12 bottles in bond 88-90
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, Château de Beaucastel £258 per case of 6 bottles in bond 90
Roussanne Vieilles Vignes, Château de Beaucastel £399 per case of 6 bottles in bond 94
Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Domaine du Clos des Papes £312 per case of 6 bottles in bond 96-98
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, Domaine du Clos des Papes £399 per case of 12 bottles in bond 93
By Kat Wiggins | Posted in Rhone 2010 | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)
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