BURGUNDY 2008 PRE-SHIPMENT OFFER

2008 is a very approachable vintage, extremely pretty indeed. The wines definitely reflect the terroir and communes: Chassagne taste like Chassagne should, as does Puligny and Meursault. Morey, Gevrey and Chambolle all show the characteristics that make Burgundy, well Burgundy - subtle flavour and structure differences that lead you to a particular patch of soil. Pure fruit and beautifully balanced acidity abound, something that I'm not expecting to see as much of in 2009. 

Our pre-shipment offer features those wines that really stood out at our recent Burgundy 2008 Festival Tasting, available now at a considerable discount compared to the eventual shop floor price.  The wines will be shipped, duty paid, in approximately four weeks, when we will contact you to arrange delivery or collection. Duty and VAT are included in the offer prices.

Please click here to view a pdf version of the offer, which includes wines from:

Domaine Christian Moreau et Fils, Chablis
Domaine Vincent Bouzereau, Meursault
Domaine Bachelet-Monnot, Santenay
Domaine Bruno Colin, Chassagne Montrachet
Domaine René Lequin-Colin, Santenay
Domaine Virgile Lignier, Morey St Denis

For further information, or to place an order, please contact David Thomas at davidthomas@caviste.co.uk / 01256 770397.

BORDEAUX 2009 EN PRIMEUR

Some of our customers have asked whether we can secure Bordeaux 2009, en primeur.  If you're not familiar with the process for buying en primeur, we hope that this summary of our service will be helpful.  Wine buffs across the world are claiming that 2009 will prove to be a great vintage ... all good cellars will want to include a few cases from this fantastic vintage!

How the process works
From April through to June 2010, the Bordeaux chateaux announce the prices and availability of their 2009 vintage.  Meanwhile wine merchants place orders on behalf of their clients.  For the most popular wines, allocations may be scaled back and the earlier you are in the queue, the more likely you are to secure the wines you want.

Purchases are made during May and June.  The wine is delivered in bond (ie without duty or VAT) to the UK after bottling, which is between two and three years after the vintage, and then final delivery is made to the customer once the duty and tax is paid.  Alternatively the customer can choose to have the wine stored under bond (no taxes paid) or with the duties and VAT paid.

The key reasons why people buy en primeur are to secure the choice of wines from the vintage, and normally doing so at the lowest possible price.  For special vintages, prices sometimes soar way above the en primeur price, and whilst it can never be guaranteed, the most sought after wines can be viewed as investments showing greatly increased values after several years.   Also, you can take charge of how your wines are stored so that its provenance is guaranteed.

The Caviste approach
It's easy to get bogged down in masses of detail for en primeur purchases, so we're providing a simplified approach to buying 2009 Bordeaux wines.

1) If you know what specific wines you want to purchase, let us know the quantities and we'll put in a bid on your behalf.
2) Otherwise, we have selected a list of wines that we believe will represent good value - please click here to view the latest list and prices.

As soon as we have confirmed prices for the Caviste Twenty, we'll circulate it by email.  Orders will need to be submitted to us no later than 30th June, with payments made by 31st July.  With many of the wines in high demand, we cannot guarantee that all customers will be able to purchase their 'first choice' wines, so we strongly advise that you place your orders as soon as possible.  As the wines will not be delivered until a later date, all en primeur funds are held in a designated and separate account.

A bit more background on wines from Bordeaux
There are essentially four tiers of wines available:

Well made Cru Bourgeois or Saint Emilion Grand Cru level – eg. Beaumont, Tour de By, Domaine de l’Eglise (with prices from £80 to £180 per case in bond)

Senior Cru Bourgeois to Junior Cru Classé – e.g. Batailley, d’Angludet, de Malle (£150 to £400)

Great to iconic/investment wines – Lynch-Bages, Léoville-Barton, Palmer, Angelus, Rieussec (£350 to £1800)

First Growths, or equivalent – Latour, Mouton-Rothschild, Lafite-Rothschild, Cheval Blanc (£1800 and above)

Summary of 2009 vintage 
Every spring, wine merchants across the world gather in Bordeaux to assess the merits of the previous year’s vintage.  Also known as ‘barrel tastings’, the châteaux produce cask samples of their wines for the merchants to taste, so that they can establish their own opinions as to which will become the prized wines.  These ‘primeur’ tastings can be viewed as a comical piece of modern and ancient theatre:  European, American, Asian and British merchants race around the Gironde in their hired people carriers, tasting as many wines as possible in the three days allotted to this great event in the world’s wine calendar.  I was part of this theatre last month, please click here for a broad summary of my views.

From a buyer’s point of view, there is a great opportunity to reserve some fantastic wines at attractive prices where the recognition value of the label is not paramount.  Of course a number of the better known wines will be highly sought after, and will carry the appropriate price tag.  I would encourage all customers to set aside a few £££ with which they can bag their chosen prize from this fabulous vintage.  If you would like to discuss our Bordeaux 2009 en primeur offer in more detail, please don’t hesitate to contact me on 01256 772231 or by e-mail at markbedford@caviste.co.uk.

BURGUNDY 2008 EN PRIMEUR


We are delighted to bring you some terrific offerings amongst the latest releases from the Côte d’Or, where vignerons have announced a small but exciting vintage.  Following on from the very classic terroir driven vintage of 2007, the latest releases from north and south of Beaune reveal wines that are rich and generous, and full of early promise.  The whites display wonderful extract and generosity with a common streak of minerality that dances through.  The reds are more disguised at this stage with deep hues, firm tannins – but powerful fruit and signs of great longevity.

To view the wines on offer, please click here.

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