Sarment rolls out Bordeaux 2016 campaign

Fine wine merchant Sarment has launched its second annual ‘Bordeaux Campaign’, where members can buy a selection of vintage wines direct from France as an alternative to buying en primeur.

Three of Sarment’s sommeliers, Li Ze in China, Stephen Yang in Chengdu and Mathieu Pouchan, head of wine for Europe based in Beaune have roamed around Bordeaux and blind tasted over 150 wines to find the ones “at their optimal time of consumption.”

Rather than buying en primeur direct from the chateaux, where purchasers will have to wait for the wines to be released and then for them to mature to peak drinking condition, Sarment aims to present bottles that are ready to drink now and have categorised them into 3, 4 and 5 star wines.

According to Sarment’s ‘compendium,’ three stars denotes “a great Bordeaux wine. Open, drink and enjoy with full confidence”, four stars means “an outstanding wine. Will impress any wine connoisseur under any circumstances”, whereas the highest ranking of five stars equals “a truly amazing wine. A gem close to perfection.”

Sarment’s three roaming sommeliers

For example, a 5-star 2007 Château Certan de May from Pomerol is on offer at HK$688, a 4-star Margaux second growth a 1978 Château Rauzan-Gassies is up for grabs at HK$981, and a 3-star Saint-Emilion premier cru 2008 Château La Gaffeliere is priced at HK$725.

“In keeping with the system by which we select the wines for our Asia-wide regional portfolio, our sommeliers have travelled direct to Bordeaux to source to find the best wines that are befitting of the wants and needs of Asian wine lovers,” said Bertrand Carquillat, general manager of Sarment Hong Kong.

“For many of these wines it is the first time they have been offered in Asia and Sarment is extremely excited to make them exclusively available to our members.”

A full tasting of all 50 3, 4 and 5 star wines will be held on 18 March at Sarment’s offices and Sarment’s Luxe members are entitled to a 20% discount and Nouveau members, 10%.