Will Lyons Uncorked

THE World of Wine

Bordeaux bounty
At this time of year there is only one subject anyone connected with wine wants to talk about, namely the new Bordeaux vintage. For the uninitiated, the Bordeaux En Primeur campaign is the event in the oenophiles calendar.

Let me explain. Every May, hundreds of journalists and wine merchants descend on Bordeaux to sip, slurp and spit their way around the myriad estates, attempting to evaluate extremely young, tough, tannic barrel samples of wine that will not be available on our shelves for at least two years. Copious notes are made, scores are collated and by mid-June the market is flooded with various wine merchants offering their tastefully bound offers for the previous year's vintages. On these recommendations eager punters are invited to buy the wine, by the case, a whole year before they will receive it. The wines are actually still in France maturing in barrels.

The arrangement benefits both parties. For the customer, it guarantees a supply of the vintage at a favourable rate and little perks like requesting the size of bottle one would like the wine to be bottled in. The producer, of course, is delighted, having sold most of his vintage before it has left the barrel. Any country could theoretically adopt this method of selling their wine but the practice is limited to Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhone and Port.

In a vintage as good as '05 the system works extremely well. In an indifferent vintage, such as the '07s where quality can vary from one Chateau to another, it doesn't work as well.

Before I flew down to Bordeaux last September most Bordelais I spoke with were acutely depressed. Despite a summer of exhausting work in the vineyard, four months of heavy rain had all but written off the vintage. But then, just as the South Africans were dazzling rugby fans on French soil, the sun came out and shone pretty much every day until mid-November. The upshot is a vintage that has favoured the cabernet sauvignon grape. Wines from the Médoc, or Left Bank, where the grape variety makes up the backbone of the blend, are worth seeking out. On the Right Bank of the Gironde, where the wines are dominated by merlot, it is a different story.

Sharing the cost of cases
One of the many frustrating things about en-primeur is the insistence on buying a case. As a wine lover I may, if I was feeling ludicrously extravagant, be able to afford perhaps one bottle of Chateau Margaux 2007 (£204.17) to lay down perhaps for a very special anniversary. But a case? (£2,450) You have to be in the Abramovich league.

This year, though, help is at hand. Charles Metcalfe, one of the nicest and most amusing wine experts out there, has come up with a rather useful solution. The business, Sharecase, aims to offer top wines en primeur to wine lovers who will actually drink them rather than those who want to stash them away in investment portfolios. Speaking from Portugal, Charles tells me that, up until now, the only way to buy en primeur has been by the unbroken case. With shareacase.com, you can pick and mix from the selection Charles has chosen. So, your case might include four bottles of First Growths, four of Seconds, and two each of Cru Bourgeois and Sauternes. It's a brilliant idea and anyone who is thinking about splurging on this year's vintage should really give this website considerable thought.

Pimm's for less
Supermarkets are heavily discounting Pimm's No. 1 Cup at the moment. If you are hosting a summer drinks party this sweet, light, floral cocktail can go an awful long way. Sainsbury's is selling a litre bottle at £10, down from £17.49, Waitrose is selling it at £11.29 and Asda is promoting two 70cl bottles for £18.