In this series, Mark Pardoe MW provides insight into how Bordeaux’s key communes fared in 2020. Here, our Wine Director looks at St Estèphe, based on a conversation with Lorraine Watrin of Ch. Montrose. At a glance: St Estèphe in 2020 Hectares under vine: 1,250 Average yield: 41hl/ha in 2020 (50hl/ha in ’19); down 18% […]

In this article, first published in the Spring/Summer issue of No.3 Magazine, we talk to specialist Nick Pegna about how to start your fine wine collection. There’s no magic formula for building a fine wine collection. It takes time. Like a painting, it’s created in layers – brushstrokes – some things added, some taken away. […]

Bérénice Lurton inherited Ch. Climens, a Sauternes powerhouse, from her father in 1992. We speak to her about her dry white Bordeaux, Asphodèle.   The fields of Homer’s underworld are strewn with asphodels, whose delicate white petals have long been associated with death.   Unlikely associations, then, for Ch. Climens’ latest wine, a dry white Bordeaux with only two vintages behind it. Asphodèle is born of Bérénice Lurton’s collaboration with Sancerre winemaker Pascal Jolivet. Its association with death, she explains, is no accident.   […]

This year, we’re tasting 2020 En Primeur in Basingstoke rather than Bordeaux. With the samples freshly arrived from the châteaux, discover how the team approached the vintage and hear Bordeaux Buyer Max Lalondrelle’s first impressions. Fresh from the tasting: Bordeaux 2020 En Primeur The build-up to tasting Bordeaux En Primeur is always exciting. Usually, the […]