The Chronicle
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- news
The Importance & Futility of Scores
A guide to the styles of the Médoc & Graves – 2025 Vintage Bordeaux criticism becomes ever more diffuse. Whilst Parker once ruled the market, today we feature scores from ten or more different critics. In order to understand their relevance, I have gone through every Cru Classé in the Médoc and quantified any consensus […]
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2024 Port Vintage Declaration
The 2024 Port Vintage Declaration is always an event. In the modern era, it has become rarer still. Which is why this week’s release of the 2024 Vintage Ports — the first full general declaration since 2017 — feels genuinely interesting. London Tasting Day, Christies, St James. Port’s grandees assemble. We were fortunate to taste […]
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2022 Burgundy En Primeur | First Impressions
2022 is a wonderful vintage in Burgundy. For both reds and whites, top winemakers have not put a foot wrong. It’s no surprise that we found winemakers so smiley – the quality is superb, and for the first time in a while, they have some quantity too. The wonderful wines we have now tasted really […]
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2023 Christmas Press Mentions
We are always happy to read about others enjoying our wines and below we’ve picked out a selection of recent press reviews – here are the highlights of bottles that have recently caught the attention of the critics. How to choose festive fizz: from artisan to the best bargains, Fiona Beckett, The Guardian MARC HÉBRART […]
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Autumnal Food Paring Partner: Bordeaux
With a crisp chill in the morning air and fallen leaves underfoot, it’s time to retreat from the garden for the comforting flavours of autumn in the kitchen. Squash, mushrooms, beetroot, celeriac, blackberries, apples and pears are all coming into season – beautiful earthy flavours that invite long, slow cooking and deep, satisfying red wine […]
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35 years of Lea & Sandeman
36 years ago this autumn, I went to the office where we both worked at the time determined that I was going to speak to Patrick Sandeman about our future. My French was shakier then, despite my claiming it was fluent at my job interview, and I liked to get the calls to France out […]
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Jack Chapman’s vinous exploration of Argentina
Day 1 Have you ever flown from Heathrow to Buenos Aires with 30 wine merchants? It’s an experience I would recommend, although the lounge at Terminal 5 and British Airways might still be reeling from the drinks tab we managed to knock up. It’s a rare opportunity, that we get to visit any of the […]
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‘Beyond Bordeaux’ – September releases from La Place
I have been fortunate enough this year to visit America twice – once North, once South, to visit some of the most iconic wineries both have to offer. A hardship undertaken in order to bring the most up to date insights on the so called ‘September Series’. A collection of wine released via Bordeaux’s La […]
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Football & Wine
Sometimes, my friends like to talk about football. We’re sat in the pub, at a restaurant or at a party – usually when there are a few blokes who don’t know each other especially well – and it’s one of the first conversations to crop up. Even on a recent visit to Napa Valley, our […]
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24 hours with Albert Jané
Our day’s trip to visit Albert Jané, winemaker on the northeast coast of Spain, comprised a whistlestop tour of his four different projects: Acústic in Montsant, Ritme in Priorat and Autòcton and Mas Vilella, both based around his family home in Tarragona. The tempo of our visit offers a reflection of how Albert approaches his […]
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The Emperor’s New Clothes – and a humbler offer
Neal Martin’s latest article on the Vinous website is timely and, in a most measured and reasonable way, lays out how an apparently well-motivated individual is capable of making all the right noises about quality of wine and how to achieve it, so that the back story sounds plausible, while marketing it entirely on price. […]
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Summer Drinking Series: White Bordeaux
We’re diving into the Lea & Sandeman cellars to find the perfect wines for your glass this summer. Chances are, if you’re thinking about buying Bordeaux at the moment, you’re probably planning to open it in 5-10 years’ time. Or at least squirreling a bottle away ‘for a rainy day’, when temperatures have dropped and […]
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Summer Drinking Series: Riesling
We’re diving into the Lea & Sandeman cellars to find the perfect wines for your glass this summer. Talk to a sommelier, or a member of the wine trade, and it’s likely that they’re happy to wax lyrical about Riesling. Its ability to age, its amazing versatile food pairing potential, the intensity of flavour it […]
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Celebration of Spring: highlights of our tasting
Last week Lea & Sandeman took over the 6th floor of the flagship Foyles bookshop, to host our ‘Celebration of Spring’ tasting. Alongside a selection of standout spring wines, the event also presented the first opportunity to taste through our recently-bolstered range of ‘grower’ Champagnes, with 15 different Champagne growers on show and over 70 […]
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Champagne – What’s in a Blend?
The major Champagne houses have a long history of leveraging their access to vast resources to create exceptional blends. With a wide array of vineyards, grape varieties, and reserve wines at their disposal, they can ensure a consistent and high-quality product year after year. This consistency is achieved by blending grapes from various terroirs, using […]
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Champagne: the jigsaw of the market
Following on from the explanation of the various classifications of producer of Champagne (‘Champagne – NM, ND, CM, RC, MA, or RM – what and why?‘), this is how the pieces fit together in terms of their place in the market. The Grandes Marques (Big Brands) – (NM and ND) If total Champagne production is […]
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Decoding Champagne – NM, ND, CM, RC, MA, or RM – what and why?
Following our ‘Celebration of Spring’ tasting, where we showcased our range of ‘grower’ Champagnes, Charles Lea is sharing some of the secrets of Champagne on our blog. First, a brief breakdown of the label codes found on Champagne bottles, which can help clarify the origin of what’s in your bottle. Most Champagne (around 70% by […]
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Day 4 – Bordeaux 2022 Tour
Angus Barcroft from our private clients team gives us an insight into day four of Bordeaux en primeur tastings: Day 4 Today we had another early start that saw us heading up the D2 road for a day of tasting along the left bank in Saint-Julien, Pauillac & Saint-Estèphe. The word of the day that […]
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Day 3 – Bordeaux 2022 Tour
Tom Lorimer from our private clients team takes us through the third day on the road in Bordeaux: Day 3 A fairly straightforward itinerary for the team today: work out how to open boot the on our over-designed hire car, mop-up the rest of the right bank, and then head north to start tackling the […]
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Day 1 & 2 – Bordeaux 2022 Tour
And we’re off, scouting Châteaux for the best of Bordeaux 2022. Our head of Private Clients, Jack Chapman is sending us his notes and impressions, giving us a verbal tour of some of the finest wines of Bordeaux’s right bank, and the team’s take on the mystifying 2022 vintage. The first visits include: Château Nénin […]
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Jack Chapman: What to expect from 2022 Bordeaux
I am going out on a limb with this blog entry, to say that you probably don’t need me to tell you that Lafite, Mouton, Margaux and Haut-Brion will probably be exceptional in the 2022 releases. It is, by now, far from a secret that we’ve got an outstanding vintage on our hands. Indeed, the […]
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Spring Wine Reviews
Spring wine reviews from Decanter, The Telegraph, The Times & The Guardian. Indie or supermarket wine? It pays to shop around, The Guardian, Fiona Beckett, 09/06/2023: 2018 A DOS MANOS Garnacha A Pie de Tierra £15.95 | £14.50 Review: ‘Lighter than the ABV might suggest, and brimming with summer berry fruit. Scrumptious.’ 2022 MIP* Made […]
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NSPCC CITY FINE WINE CHALLENGE – 2023
For over 18 years, Lea & Sandeman has been the proud supporter of the NSPCC City Fine Wine Challenge – an evening that tests tastebuds and wine knowledge, whilst raising vital funds for a very important cause. On the 9th March, the Lea & Sandeman team was back again at One Great George Street, pouring […]
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Winter Wine Reviews
Recent wine reviews from The Financial Times, The Telegraph, The Times, Decanter and Money Weeks. ‘In the know’: the most overlooked white wines, Zeren Wilson, The Guardian, 24/02/2023: 2021 MÂCON VILLAGES Domaine de la Denante £14.95 | £13.50 Review: ‘And how about one of the priciest regions on the planet – where do wine-trade mavens […]