International wines kick-start autumn campaign for La Place

The autumn releases of international wines on La Place de Bordeaux have started to trickle through this week, with the release of Chile’s Almaviva and South Africa’s Vin de Constance today, following Chile’s Seña and Clos Apalta, and Napa’s Opus One and Inglenook Rubicon. 

The September release of wines has become more and more popular with fine wine producers from across the world  who are keen to tap into La Place’s global distribution network to sell their wines.

Thursdays’ sell-out of the first vintage of Rocas de Seña within hours of its release to the market proves how effective this can be. Fewer than 3,000 cases were made of the inaugural 2020 vintage of Rocas de Seña, around half the annual production of the grand vin, Seña, and it was launched at €35 per bottle ex-négociant, being offered for £426 per case (12×75).

This morning saw the release of Almaviva 2020, along with Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance, the natural sweet wine that comes from the upper foothills of the Constantiaberg, one of South Africa’s best sites for cool climate wines.

The 2019 vintage of Vin de Constance was released to the international trade this morning for £540 per 12×50, with Jane Anson scoring it 98 points and calling the “wonderfully seductive and opulent” wine “another stunning success”. Vinous’s Neal Martin gave it 97-points, saying it was “Sauternes-like even if it does not contain an ounce of botrytis”, noting that it was “slightly Germanic towards the finish”. 

The release follows Monday’s release of  Opus One 2019 and Inglenook Rubicon 2019, and last week’s release of Seña 2020, its second wine, Rocas de Seña, and the 99-point Clos Apalta 2019, which was released for £900 per case in bond on Thursday.

However, there are many more wines to come in the autumn tranche, from the Super Tuscans and California, Rioja and the first New Zealand wines, from Craggy Range, with its Le Sol Syrah and Aroha Pinot Noir.