It would have been hugely disappointing if today hadn’t provided fireworks. The 2009 vintage in Bordeaux is being billed as one of the best ever, and we had hourly appointments at some of the world’s most sought-after estates. Not everything was as (I) had expected. In 2003 the hot summer gave a certain uniformity to [...]
Category Archives: En Primeur
A good start to the week
Sunday 28 March 2010 – 21:52
We’ve arrived at Caronne Ste Gemme, our home in the Medoc for the early part of the week. Francois served 2000 with dinner – it’s a delicious mix of ripe fruit and attractive freshness. Let’s hope the 2009s age as well.
Bordeaux 2009: an introduction
Sunday 28 March 2010 – 13:26
The inescapable Bordeaux PR machine has been rolling since the summer of 2009, when we first started to hear whispers about the potential of the vintage that was currently hanging on the vines. With the autumn, as the fruit was brought in, came more confident proclamations, which grew in strength over the following months. Now, [...]
Lay & Wheeler launch blog
Friday 26 March 2010 – 18:14
Our friends at Lay & Wheeler have launched their own blog, over at blog.laywheeler.com. They’ve already been busy posting detailed information about the upcoming Bordeaux 2009 campaign, and I’ll reproduce the highlights here over the weekend, but customers of fine wine and en primeur will want to subscribe to Lay & Wheeler’s RSS feed and/or [...]
Burgundy 2008 Tasting & En Primeur Campaign
Tuesday 8 December 2009 – 8:00
Majestic has made a name for itself in recent years in the Bordeaux en primeur market. Burgundy however has proved more difficult to establish, as most of the best producers already have long-established relationships with smaller fine wine merchants. Recently of course Majestic acquired the fine wine merchant Lay & Wheeler, which is one of [...]
Bordeaux 2008: Clos du Marquis and Cheval Blanc Released
Thursday 21 May 2009 – 8:48
We are pleased to announce the release of Clos du Marquis and Cheval Blanc within our Bordeaux 2008 En Primeur range. It is not a good idea to suggest to Monsieur Delon that Clos du Marquis is the second wine of famed Second Growth Léoville-Las-Cas, it comes from a distinct terroir and was one of [...]
Vintage Port 2007 available now
Friday 15 May 2009 – 10:00
Today Majestic is pleased to begin offering 2007 Vintage Ports en primeur. As I mentioned in my earlier post, Vintage Port is a great buy en primeur partly because it is only ‘declared’ in exceptional vintages, and partly because it is the most affordable way to buy wine to cellar for several decades. This also [...]
Bordeaux 2008: Ducru-Beaucaillou
Thursday 14 May 2009 – 11:18
After stating yesterday that this week would see a pause in the campaign during the London International Wine Fair, it appears the Majestic crystal ball has malfunctioned: Ducru-Beaucaillou, one of the wines of the vintage for us and most commentators, has been released. With the same Parker marks as Latour we expect this to be [...]
Bordeaux 2008: Montrose, Eglise Clinet and Branaire-Ducru
Wednesday 13 May 2009 – 10:46
The flood of releases from Bordeaux appears to be drawing down, and we’re on the home straight now as far as the 2008 campaign is confirmed – although there are still a few big names to come. It’s the London International Wine Fair this week, which may result in a hiatus, but we would hope [...]
2007 Vintage Port coming soon
Wednesday 6 May 2009 – 10:42
All the major Port houses have “declared” the 2007 vintage, and we will soon be offering the wines en primeur. Port is an interesting wine to buy this way for several reasons: Only the very best vintages are “declared”; it last happened in 2003 and 2000. Port is the least expensive way to buy a [...]
