Chateau Tayac in the appelation of margaux hit by thieves who broke into the cellars and stole many of the Chateau's private collection of old wines.

Chateau d'Yquem (20th April)the leading Sauternes sweet wine producing Chateau is sold after months of speculation. The luxury goods group LMVH Moet Hennessy are the buyers and a deal is rumoured to be on the verge of being announced.


Cos D'Estournel the leading St Estephe classed growth slashes its 'En Primeur' prices for the 1998 vintage by 25% compared to last year.
On the day that the 1998 en primeur tastings started for the "Union des Grands Crus" this appears to be a move by Cos D'Estournel to encourage other Chateaux to calm down after a few years of spiralling prices. The 1998 vintage is held to be superior to that of 1997 generally and therefore the effect of this stance is to signal that in some cases a similar hike in prices to that of 1997 will not be received favourably by the industry. It will be interesting to see which Chateaux follow suit, bearing in mind those who claimed that last year's increases were simply to allow for an increase in the costs of production.

Union de Grands Crus en Primeur 1998 tastings. A varied but successful vintage on the whole was The Fine Claret Seller reaction to the En Primeur Tastings recently held in Bordeaux. Here are some of our preferred wines of the 117 wines tasted.

Pessac / Graves
The Whites:
Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte led the field here with a wonderful light, round but citric wine that built extremely well. Excellent construction, perfectly smooth with plenty of fruit. Chateau Carbonnieux came up with a light, easy refreshing white, whilst Larrivet Haut Brion produced a succulent, slightly fatter floral effort. Chateau Olivier we found citric and green on the nose but fresh, minty well mannered and well balanced.
The Reds :
Chateau Carbonnieux had chewy blackberry aromas, was very long and had lively fruit, Domaine de Chevalier again long lasting, concentrated cassis fruit, a note of dryness and structure - very harmonious. Chateau Fieuzal we liked with its licorice nose and sweeter fruits on the tongue. Not overly long but plenty of poise and complexity. Larrivet Haut Brion - mild and charming, understated smoothness. Chateau Malartic Lagraviere was a splendid chewy and spicy wine with a treacle middle that lasted. Chateau Rahoul was excellent, an interesting citrussy bouquet - a flat entry that suddenly leapt into action of light fruit and cedar,very good effort.

St Emilion
Obviously a good year for the Merlot, the standard was generally very good. Our particular favourites were Chateau Grand Mayne with its massive jammy fruit and total absence of harshness, and La Dominique with its gradually building currant fruit that lasts for ever. Other good performers were Chateau Canon with its agricultural nose and very strong solid berries, not a shy wine - Chateau Dassault which was balanced but trying hard to blockbust its way to fame with some very concentrated fruit - Chateau Pavie Decesse with its full bouquet, slightly sour gooseberry fruit and flawless full finish. A special mention to a very interesting Chateau Fonplegade with a bouquet reminiscent of a Graves white :light and elegant all the way through with medium citrus fruit and acidity

Pomerol
Again a very strong performance from the Merlot camp with all those on show displaying great character. A notch ahead was the Chateau La Conseillante with a soft calm entry, never reached the highest height of fruit but it promised it and this part is the real pleasure - understated perfection. Other strong cases were put forward by Chateau La Pointe - very concentrated berries, classic Pomerol and Chateau L'Evangile which showed a fresh tropical nose, an easy entry and huge power with some natural tannic structure which will help it later.

Moulis en Medoc
Good standard here, out of the top three (Chasse Spleen, Maucaillou and Poujeaux) Maucaillou gets the nod in this instance. Dark flattering bouquet complex and concentrated, built to last well with plenty of smooth tannins and a long soft finish.

Listrac - Medoc, Haut - Medoc, and the Medoc
Some excellent wines produced here, also some uninspired homogeneity but generally speaking the structure of the wines was very good. Our pick in Listrac was Chateau Clarke, a creamy textured, mild effort with smooth fruit showing. In the Haut - Medoc Chateau Cantemerle underlined its status with a dark fruity peppery nose, a very soft entry and a burnt sugar finish. Full of charm and structure. Chateau Coufran had a floral nose and then similar notes to Cantemerle, a treacle finish and mild entry. A very good effort. The Medoc managed more fruit, particularly in Chateau La Tour de By where straightforward cassis fruit was met with very little harshness all the way through. Not overly long but it didn't matter.

Margaux
The standard was very good here and many Chateaux deserve a mention for the obvious attention to detail. Fighting for top spot, in our opinion, were Chateau Rauzan - Segla and Chateau Monbrison - at opposing ends of the Margaux spectrum. Monbrison with its gentle citric flavours, fresh, light and very well balanced with the tannins, and Rauzan Segla with its superb big and round building fruit with the structure to let it develop. Chateau Brane - Cantenac had very up front soft, sugary fruit. Chateau d'Angludet had a fairly dry bouquet that turned up enough fruit to get by, but the main attraction was the tobacco / leather taste that kicks in 1/3 through. Chateau Durfort Vivens we found very elegant, a flowery bouquet, mild and minty entry leading to some fragrant exotic fruit. Chateau Giscours managed a concentrated, perfectly balanced tannic / acid combination that is worth looking out for. There is a spicy theme in Chateau Kirwan - a peppery bouquet carries on with a 'relevé' fruit marriage. Works very well, not overly concentrated. Chateau Labegorce produced a short but highly concentrated plums & dates style which seemed quite alcoholic. Chateau Marquis de Terme produced a medium bodied wine with a cherry / aniseed nose that developed well into an smooth elegant Margaux. Chateau Siran was dark & concentrated with a heavy cassis bouquet. Taste was coffee and sugar quite soon. Enjoyed this, but a lot of the fruit was masked and it will be interesting to see what the wood does to it.

St Julien
Another excellent performance from the wines present here. Generally the fruit, although present, seemed to take a back seat with the structure of the St Julien wines appearing to be the main focus. Our choice for the St Julien was the firm and concentrated Chateau Gruaud Larose, whose light and smooth entry was complemented with a good solid structure that delivered lots of long power and fruit. Chateau Talbot was also top class with breathtaking length and a treacle / finish that topped a nice spicy but smooth middle. Other good performances were from Chateau Lagrange where a highly individual deep, dark already wooded bouquet introduced a very satisfying rounded wine, and Chateau Léoville Poyferré whose lively apple fruit and exceptional smoothness was excellent.

Pauillac
More elegant than expected (as opposed to the classic big Pauillac style) the front runner was (almost inevitably) the 'omnipraised' Chateau Lynch-Bages. An immediate influx of deep cassis fruit on the nose building all the way to a soft rounded toffee finish was comforting and particularly enjoyable. Both the Chateau Pichon Longueville's (Baron & Comtesse)were up to the task with the Baron having chewy cherry fruit after a smoky nose and the Comtesse delightfully smooth and soft throughout, although not overly long. Chateau-Pontet Canet had a wonderful vanilla oaky nose that gave immediate fruit that was long lived. A very well put together wine. Chateau Lynch Moussas was almost like a smaller brother to the Lynch Bages - the same characteristics scaled down but with better packaging..very neat.

St Estephe
A particularly strong point of the 1998 En Primeur tastings, the quality of the fruit present in the St Estephe wines was extraordinary. All showed immense concentration and power and is our tip for the vintage in terms of potential quality / price, although at present we are unaware of the market prices. Chateau Lafon Rochet started with a reasonably sharp bouquet that then melted into huge sugary peachy fruit followed with a great steady build up that finished with a few well balanced natural tannins. Chateau les Ormes de Pez was totally un harsh with a blackcurrant nose a smooth plump 'confit' entry which lasted well and rounded off perfectly. Chateau Cos Labory was similarly concentrated with big summer fruit lasting ages until some big tannins kick in at the end, although this may be a good thing. Chateau Phélan Ségur also lots of fruit the whole way through after a soft entry. Plenty of tannins but also bags of chunky fruit.

Bordeaux Prices having stabilised recently and with the news of the 'Cos' en primeur price cut may be set for some good investment. Our recommendation is still to 'fill your boots' with '95 which is still available but thinning out. Quality wines are still available - however for those interested in drinking, the lesser growths look like a more reasonable bet.