St Julien
St Julien is the smallest of the ‘Big Four’ Médoc communes although, without any First Growths, it is recognised to be the most consistent of the main communes with many châteaux turning out impressive wines year after year. The wines can be judged as much by texture as flavour, and there is a sleek, wholesome character to the best. At their very finest they combine Margaux’s elegance and refinement with Pauillac’s power and substance.
St Julien is the smallest of the "Big Four" Médoc communes. Although, without any First Growths, St Julien is recognised to be the most consistent of the main communes, with several châteaux turning out impressive wines year after year.
St Julien itself is much more of a village than Pauillac and almost all of the notable properties lie to its south. Its most northerly château is Ch. Léoville Las Cases (whose vineyards actually adjoin those of Latour in Pauillac) but, further south, suitable vineyard land gives way to arable farming and livestock until the Margaux appellation is reached.
The soil is gravelly and finer than that of Pauillac, and without the iron content which gives Pauillac its stature. The homogeneous soils in the vineyards (which extend over a relatively small area of just over 700 hectares) give the commune a unified character.
The wines can be assessed as much by texture as flavour, and there is a sleek, wholesome character to the best. Elegance, harmony and perfect balance and weight, with hints of cassis and cedar, are what epitomise classic St Julien wines. At their very best they combine Margaux’s elegance and refinement with Pauillac’s power and substance.
Ch. Léoville Las Cases produces arguably the most sought-after St Julien, and in any reassessment of the 1855 Classification it would almost certainly warrant being elevated to First Growth status.
Recommended Châteaux: Ch. Léoville Las Cases, Ch.Léoville Barton, Ch Léoville Poyferré, Ch. Ducru-Beaucaillou, Ch Langoa Barton, Ch Gruaud Larose, Ch. Branaire-Ducru, Ch. Beychevelle
Prices:
Bottle
£19.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl43cs
Bottle
£24.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle
£26.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl2cs
Case price (Bottle 6 x 75cl)
Bottle 6 x 75cl136cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
A textbook St Julien nose of cigar-box, pencil shaving and cedar combines with smooth cassis and spice. It’s elegant and smooth on the palate, but with good structure and composed, fine-grained tannins. This is quintessential Claret and outstandingly good value.
Bottle
£34.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl15cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle
£35.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl48cs
Stuart Fyfe, Personal Wine Advisor
Bottle
£35.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl45cs
Bottle
£36.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl78cs
Laura Atkinson, Private Account Manager
Case price (Bottle 12 x 75cl)
Bottle 12 x 75cl50cs
Bottle
£39.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Bottle
£42.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl37cs
Bottle
£44.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl338cs
Simon Staples, BBR Fine Wine Director, June 2007
Bottle
£50.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl145cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
There is a very fine weave on the palate, a silky texture and a real concentration drawn from the low yield, which is around 18% below the figure for 2010. The tannins are abundant but are extremely fine, and this wine should age well for 15-20 years. Owner Patrick Maroteaux places this below the great vintages such as 2000, 2005, 2009 and 2010, but above 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008.
Bottle
£51.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl32cs
Bottle
£51.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl17cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Magnum 3 x 150cl1cs
Imperial 1 x 600cl1cs
Case price (Bottle 12 x 75cl)
Bottle 12 x 75cl2cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Bottle
£55.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl24cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl2cs
Hong Kong Fine Wine Team
Bottle
£56.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl51cs
Tom Cave - Cellar Plan Manager
Lovely sweet intensity on the nose, lots of pure cassis coming through on the nose, very polished and pure with a touch of well integrated oak. Lots of cassis and black cherries coming through on the palate, good complexity, sweetness and generosity for the vintage and compared to other wines from the region, a good long and well balanced finish. Classic poyferre and another tour de force in a difficult vintage. I have some 01 and 04 in my cellar which are delicious now and this should prove to be a wise purchase for the followers of this property if released at the right price.
Max Lalondrelle - Fine Wine Buying Director
Bottle
£56.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl100cs
Bottle
£56.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl15cs
Case price (Imperial 1 x 600cl)
Imperial 1 x 600cl5cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl2cs
Bottle
£56.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl35cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl2cs
H/Bottle
£58.00
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl3cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl2cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Textbook St Julien aromas of liquorice and cassis lead to intense savoury and earthy notes in this beautifully mature Claret. It’s a noteworthy example of what a gifted winemaker with a deft touch can achieve in a challenging vintage. Now at its drinking peak, savour it with a fine rib of beef.
Bottle
£67.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl4cs
This is very hedonistic, with bags of lush, upfront fruit and easy charm. An attractive, perfumed nose is followed by a silky, textured palate, with good tannins and concentration. It is utterly delicious but is very atypical St Julien – if anything it is more reminiscent of a Pomerol! A real vin de plaisir and the best Talbot we can remember.
Case price (Bottle 12 x 75cl)
Bottle 12 x 75cl3cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Case price (Bottle 12 x 75cl)
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Magnum 6 x 150cl1cs
Magnum 6 x 150cl2cs
Magnum 6 x 150cl1cs
D. Magnum 1 x 300cl1cs
D. Magnum 1 x 300cl1cs
D. Magnum 3 x 300cl1cs
Imperial 1 x 600cl3cs
Salmanaz. 1 x 900cl1cs
Salmanaz. 1 x 900cl2cs
The 1996 Ch. Saint Pierre is a wine showing maturity with a complex nose exuding notes of tobacco leaves, spices, cedar wood, smoke and gravel. On the palate, it displays a classic if not an old-school Claret style showing power and density, the bottle age adding refinement and finesse as well as notes of dried tea leaves. Decant prior to drinking.
Bottle
£70.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl6cs
Ch. Gruaud Larose has long been among my favourite Bordeaux properties and, despite them having recently constructed what appears to be an enormous cheese grater in their front garden, they still retain a special place in my vinous affections. The 1995 is a real tour de force with all the characteristic lush, dark St Julien fruit allied to a full structure that means it is showing well at 20 years old, as I suspect it will at 30.
Bottle
£88.00
Bottle
£88.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl3cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Case price (Bottle 6 x 75cl)
Bottle 6 x 75cl40cs
Case price (Bottle 12 x 75cl)
Bottle 12 x 75cl2cs
Case price (Magnum 6 x 150cl)
Magnum 6 x 150cl10cs
Case price (Bottle 6 x 75cl)
Bottle 6 x 75cl275cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Case price (Magnum 6 x 150cl)
Magnum 6 x 150cl19cs
Case price (Imperial 1 x 600cl)
Imperial 1 x 600cl1cs
Deeply coloured, massively structured, with ample mature tannins, spicy oak and tobacco-scented dark berry fruit. A wine of undisputed ageing potential, this is drinking gloriously now.
Bottle
£166.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl44cs
Case price (Imperial 1 x 600cl)
Imperial 1 x 600cl3cs
Magnum 6 x 150cl1cs
Christmas Cheer, Country Life, 23 November 2011
Ch Leoville Poyferré, a 2nd Classified Growth property, has been in the Cuvelier family since 1921 and under the recent stewardship of Didier Cuvelier it has scaled new heights, often rivalling the very best in its category and emerging from the shadow of its two illustrious Leoville neighbours, Barton and Las Cases.
The style is pure St Julien, all elegance and breed, with a notable silky texture in recent vintages. The grapes are fermented in 35 separate stainless steel tanks after which the wine is put into barrel where it undergoes malolactic fermentation. It then spends around 18 months in wood, 75% new, before bottling. 2001 is inevitably overshadowed somewhat by the greatness of 2000, but deserves recognition as a fine, classically-styled vintage in its own right.
65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Petit Verdot, 2% Cabernet Franc.
Case price (Magnum 6 x 150cl)
Magnum 6 x 150cl4cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
This wine comes from vineyards owned by Saint-Julien Château Beychevelle that lie just outside the appellation. It's a sophisticated wine that has great balance between the ripe black fruits and fresh acidity. Keenly structured, it has a dark texture and layers of attractive fruit and acidity.
Roger Voss - Wine Enthusiast, winemag.com - Jan 2015