Top Champagnes set the pace

Prestige Champagne has continued to show strong appeal as two early March releases joined a packed fine wine schedule. Pol Roger released its prestige cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 2012 – online retailer The Finest Bubble listed it for £198 a bottle (duty & VAT paid), while Bordeaux Index was offering cases of six bottles or three magnums for £785 and £975 in bond (ib) respectively.

Matthew O’Connell, head of investment at Bordeaux Index, told Decanter the wine ‘sold through pretty quickly, with the lack of critics’ notes counterbalanced by an increasing focus on the particular strength of 2012 as a vintage’. He added Bollinger’s RD 2007 release a few days earlier (£625ib, 6x75cl) was also ‘extremely well received’.

Simon Field MW rated the Bollinger at 93pts for Decanter Premium. He said it was a ‘little sleepy’ but noted its future potential to deliver a ‘slow-burn crescendo’.

Elsewhere, Domaine Comte Georges de Vogüé joined the Burgundy 2019 en primeur releases. Decanter’s Charles Curtis MW gave its Musigny grand cru 98pts, noting it ‘will likely benefit from as much age as you can stand to give it’. Liv-ex said it was priced £8,500ib equivalent (12x75cl), above the 2018 vintage level of £6,932.

As Decanter went to press, all eyes were on the Place de Bordeaux’s March release schedule. Wines due included Château Léoville Las Cases 2001 (re-release), Latour 2013, Promontory 2015 (non-US) and Ornellaia 2018 (due 1 April).