The Holiday Issue · Christmas & New Year 2026
One of the rarest rosés in Champagne, from a cool and slow-ripening year. Red berries, salinity, and the house’s lightness of touch.
Available from Rue Pinard · ruepinard.comEditors · Bart Laming & Hakan Karaca · Published by Rue Pinard BV, The Netherlands
Gold · Wine-Searcher Retailer Awards 2026/27, online list, the Netherlands
How to order, page 39 · Every bottle, page 42
Pages marked with a bottle and price are Rue Pinard’s own offers. Lifestyle images are illustrative.
On the cover: Romanée-Conti 2005, page 10
The 2009 in jeroboam, three litres of a great vintage, and the legendary 1961. Each one offered with its provenance file.
Available from Rue Pinard · ruepinard.comLooking back on 2026, and forward to the table.
As the year closes, we want to begin with thanks. Every bottle in this issue reached us because a client trusted us to find it, and every one will leave our hands the same way: checked, documented and delivered to a door.
It has been a year of recognition. Liv-ex, the global exchange for fine wine, named Rue Pinard its fastest-growing member. Wine-Searcher awarded us Gold for the best online list in the Netherlands in its Retailer Awards 2026/27. We read both as a responsibility rather than a trophy: to keep our list honest, our prices clear and our provenance beyond question.
It has also been a year of reach. Our network now runs from Europe to the United States, with our own export line, so that a bottle bought in Bordeaux or Brussels arrives at a client’s home in America with the same care as one delivered in Europe.
None of this changes what we believe. A trade is a moment; a relationship is the reason it happens. We would rather find you the right bottle next year than sell you the wrong one today. That is why we answer every question ourselves, and why we stay in touch long after the delivery.
This issue gathers the bottles our clients asked for most this year, and a few that seldom reach private buyers at all. Prices are from our live list on 22 October 2026; bottles marked Private allocation are reserved by email.
Cognac from the two finest crus of the region, aged for years in oak. Dried fruit, candied orange and spice for the last hour of the evening.
Available from Rue Pinard · ruepinard.comThe wines our clients reordered most since January, ready for the table and the gift list.
A client favourite this year: fine, toasty and precise, made for the first glass of the evening.
Dom Pérignon is only ever made as a vintage, and only released after long years on its lees. The 2017 is fine-boned and precise, with the house’s toasty signature already present. One of the champagnes our clients asked for most this year, by the case as often as by the bottle.
Deep, vinous rosé from a cool, slow vintage. Equally at home with the aperitif or the main course.
Three great vintages married into one cuvée. A favourite with our clients this year.
Among our best-selling reds this year: a classic Sassicaia vintage, cedar and cassis.
The family that invented Brunello, in a much-praised vintage.
All six Macallan in Lalique decanters, from fifty to sixty-five years old, offered together as one complete set.
Over a series of releases, The Macallan and the crystal house Lalique made six decanters, one for each of the “six pillars” on which the distillery builds its character. Each held an older whisky than the last, and each was made in strictly limited numbers.
Single decanters appear at auction from time to time. A complete set, with every decanter in its original presentation case and outer box, very rarely does. We offer it as one lot, inspected, documented and delivered in person where possible.
In the tradition of the great department-store Christmas books: gifts of a kind that appear once, and are remembered for good.
Three of the oldest single malts The Macallan has bottled, numbered and presented together in their original case.
A complete case seldom reaches the market. This one is offered as a single lot, with its documentation, inspected before sale and delivered in person where possible. A gift that will be talked about long after the bottles themselves.
A full original case of twelve from the château, in one of the century’s great vintages.
Wartime spirit in an engraved decanter, from the Golden Age of Travel series.
Islay’s silent still, in a twin-decanter release.
One of only thirty-four bottles released worldwide.
A walled vineyard of 1.8 hectares, a few thousand bottles in a good year, and the name we are asked for most often in December.
Every December the same question reaches our desk in a dozen forms: is there a Romanée-Conti? The vineyard is a monopole of the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, a single parcel in Vosne-Romanée that has been farmed as one since the eighteenth century. Each bottle is numbered on the label, and the domaine sells it as part of mixed cases rather than on its own.
A bottle that reaches the open market has usually changed hands several times. That is why provenance matters as much as the vintage, and why we offer these bottles only with their documented history.
The 2005 comes from one of the outstanding Burgundy vintages of the century: ripe, deep and built for decades. It will reward another twenty years in the cellar, or one unforgettable evening.
We hold a single bottle. It is offered as a private allocation, and we confirm condition, provenance and delivery before any commitment.
A bottle on the open market has usually changed hands several times. Provenance matters as much as the vintage.
How to choose a champagne for the countdown, from a client favourite to a single-village rarity.
Krug Grande Cuvée and Laurent-Perrier’s Grand Siècle blend wines from many years for depth and consistency. Dom Pérignon, Cristal and Salon are made only from a single harvest, and Salon only in the years the house judges worthy. Neither is better; they answer different moods.
Champagne ages more slowly and more gracefully in a magnum, and a large bottle changes the mood of a table. Our long-table selection runs from magnums to a six-litre Comtes de Champagne.
Chill to eight or ten degrees, no colder. A tulip or white-wine glass shows far more than a narrow flute. Turn the bottle rather than the cork, and let it open with a sigh rather than a bang.
Let it open with a sigh, not a bang.
From the great houses to the growers who changed the region.
A single village, a single grape, made only in the years the house judges worthy.
Salon makes a single wine: Chardonnay from the village of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, released only in great years and only after a decade in the cellar. The 2013 comes from a late, cool harvest and is taut, saline and long. A champagne to open slowly, and to talk about.
A blend of many vintages, built for depth rather than a single year. Brioche, citrus peel and a long, quiet finish.
Bright, chalky and generous. Held off-market for our clients; reserved in order of reply.
One of the rarest rosés in Champagne: red berries, salinity and the house’s trademark lightness of touch.
The grower who changed Champagne. Oxidative, layered and rarely seen on a shelf.
A steep, south-facing walled vineyard above the Marne, in one of the finest vintages of the century.
Cult grower champagne from a single parcel of pinot noir, made in tiny quantities.
Pure chardonnay from the oldest champagne house: elegant, creamy and lifted.
The legendary 1996: Salon at its most electric.
Magnums to six litres. Large bottles age more slowly and pour more generously.
Eight bottles in one. The bottle that makes the room turn around at midnight.
Krug at its most theatrical, with the extra bottle age that large formats bring.
The famous anemone bottle, in the great 2008 vintage and in festive size.
Named for the house’s most loyal client: powerful, pinot-led and built to age.
Recently disgorged after long years on its lees: rich, complex and remarkably fresh.
The rare rosé in the format it shows best.
One of our best-selling clarets of the year, in a format for a table of twenty.
The original Super Tuscan, generous and ready to pour at the head of the table.
A great old claret asks for a little patience. Here is how we serve ours.
Bring the bottle upright a day or two before dinner so the sediment settles to the bottom of the bottle.
Old corks are fragile. A two-pronged opener eases them out where a corkscrew would crumble them.
Pour off the sediment just before serving. An old wine shows its best in the first hour and can fade if left to breathe for long.
Sixteen to seventeen degrees, a little below the room, keeps an older wine fresh in the glass.
An old wine shows its best in the first hour. Pour it while it is still speaking.
Bordeaux the critics scored 99 and 100, from Lafite 1959 to Petrus 1989. Offered as private allocations, with their provenance.
The Latour of a legendary vintage, still deep and firm.
1961 is the vintage Bordeaux measures itself against: a tiny crop after spring frost, and wines of extraordinary concentration. Latour’s 1961 is among the greatest of them, still deep and firm sixty-five years on. Our bottles were reconditioned in 1995.
Lafite at its most generous, from the great vintage of the 1950s.
Released late from a Paris merchant’s cellar, in perfect condition.
Perfect scores from two critics, seventy years on.
A perfect Petrus, in the format it ages best.
Made by Jacques Reynaud: Grenache as nowhere else.
Château Rayas makes Châteauneuf-du-Pape unlike any other: almost pure Grenache from cool, sandy soils, made in an old cellar without fuss. The 1990 was made by Jacques Reynaud, uncle of today’s winemaker Emmanuel Reynaud, and is one of the estate’s most celebrated wines.
The tiny Pomerol estate whose 1982 earned a perfect score.
The oldest of Guigal’s single vineyards, in a perfect year.
An estate library release in its original wooden case.
Napa’s first growth, in a vintage of perfect scores.
First growths at their peak, from Mouton 1982 to Cheval Blanc 2010.
A first growth at its drinking peak: the generous, open-knit Mouton for this Christmas.
Since 1945 each Mouton label has been painted by a different artist; 1997 belongs to Niki de Saint Phalle. A softer, earlier-drinking vintage, it is at its peak now: cedar, blackcurrant and a silky finish. A first growth for tonight’s table rather than for the next twenty years.
A perfect Margaux, silky and complete at thirty-six.
The vintage that made Bordeaux’s modern reputation.
A full banded case from Saint-Émilion’s smallest first growth.
Cheval Blanc’s modern masterpiece.
Drinking beautifully now, which makes it ideal for this Christmas.
Seven years on, the 2018 has opened beautifully: blackcurrant, Mediterranean herbs and soft, polished tannin. Of the two Sassicaias in this issue, this is the one to pour this Christmas, while the 2021 rests in the cellar.
California’s most coveted cabernet, in its original wooden case.
Piedmont’s most revered Barolo, released only in great years.
The very first vintage of La Turque.
Australia’s most famous wine: dense, spiced shiraz for the long winter evening.
Jean-Louis Chave made the Cuvée Cathelin only in exceptional years, from the finest parcels on the hill of Hermitage. Its label carries a painting by the French artist Bernard Cathelin, which gave the wine its name. Our bottle is the 1991, a year that was kinder to the northern Rhône than to much of France.
Puligny, Meursault and Chablis for the oysters, the turbot and the hour before the guests arrive.
Biodynamic Puligny from the domaine that defines the village.
Les Folatières sits high on the Puligny slope, and in Domaine Leflaive’s biodynamic hands it gives white Burgundy of tension and quiet richness. The 2023 is young and bright. Serve it cool rather than cold, with shellfish or the Christmas turbot.
The most sought-after name in Chablis; allocations are tiny.
Old vines from one of the reference domaines of the Côte de Beaune.
Barrel-aged grand cru Chablis of rare depth from a family estate.
Marsanne and roussanne of extraordinary texture, from the hill of Hermitage.
Old single malts, a silent Islay still, Japanese whisky and cognac from the owners of Lafite.
Japan’s most decorated blend, now very hard to find.
Hibiki is blended from malt and grain whiskies across Suntory’s distilleries, some matured in Japanese oak. The 21-year-old is the most decorated of the range: honey, dried fruit and a thread of sandalwood. Supplies have been limited for years, and it rarely reaches a shelf.
Cognac from the owners of Lafite; one of our best-selling spirits this year, here in the grand format.
Islay’s silent still, from the celebrated 1978 distillation.
Sherry-matured single malt from Japan’s oldest distillery.
Honeyed, gentle Speyside of a quarter-century in cask.
The Geisha label from Japan’s lost distillery.
Single cask Karuizawa, deep with sherry and spice.
Aged in rare Japanese oak, with notes of sandalwood and incense.
The most sought-after bourbon in America.
Among the oldest whiskies the distillery has released, in Lalique crystal and its original cabinet.
Available from Rue Pinard · ruepinard.comEight bottles chosen for the people on your list, from a host’s gift to a once-in-a-lifetime present.
For the host who has everythingSalonLe Mesnil 2013For a valued clientDom PérignonVintage 2017For the whisky loverSuntoryHibiki 21 YearsFor the Christmas tableChâteau Lynch-BagesPauillac 2019 · Imperial
For the cheese courseChâteau d’YquemSauternes 2015 · MagnumFor the New YearKrugGrande Cuvée 171ème Édition
For the collectorChâteau PalmerMargaux 1961
For a legendKaruizawa1960€826,800Verticals, anniversary editions and signature cases from the great estates, each in its original presentation. Prices are per set.
Two bottles each of 1990, 2000 (JS 100) and 2010 (WA 100).
Six bottles of Lafite from three great vintages, a decade apart: two each of 1990, 2000 and 2010, released by the château in three stacking wooden drums. A present for the cellar, and for the table in years to come.
Lafite 2000, Latour 2009, Mouton 2000, Margaux 2015, Haut-Brion 2010, Cheval Blanc 2010.
Cheval Blanc, Latour, Lafite, Margaux, Ausone and Haut-Brion Blanc, all 2000.
Yquem 1990, Biondi-Santi 1997, Lafite 2000, Salon 2013, Grange 2017, Pingus 2018.
1995, 2000, 2003, 2009, 2010 and 2015, five of them scored 99 or 100.
Two double magnums in a sculpted oak cradle.
Two bottles of each Horse vintage, in a numbered case.
Three Margaux (WA 100), two Pavillon Rouge, one Pavillon Blanc.
1982, 1990, 1996, 2000, 2005 and 2009.
From Japan’s legendary closed distillery: among the rarest whiskies in the world.
Bottles that seldom come to market, offered one at a time and allocated in order of reply.
The monopole, in one of Burgundy’s great modern vintages.
One bottle, from one of the great Burgundy vintages, and the vineyard every collector names first. Offered with its provenance file. The full story is in this issue’s cover feature.
Released to mark the distillery’s new home, in a decanter of Lalique crystal.
Made only in exceptional years, under a label painted by Bernard Cathelin.
One of the great wines of a legendary vintage, and the bottle that made Palmer’s name.
From the Card Series of the closed Hanyu distillery, among Japan’s most collected whiskies.
The most requested large format of our year: the great 2009, in the bottle that ages best.
Petrus is almost entirely Merlot, grown on a small plateau of blue clay in Pomerol. 2009 was a warm, opulent year, and in a three-litre jeroboam the wine will age slowly for decades. One of the most requested large bottles of our year.
The vintage most often named as the greatest Cheval Blanc ever made.
A legendary Sauternes vintage, given a perfect 20 out of 20 by Jancis Robinson.
Blanc de noirs from a single walled vineyard of 0.68 hectare.
Fine, toasty and precise. The champagne our clients asked for most this year.
Available from Rue Pinard · ruepinard.comRue Pinard is not a regular retailer. We work for the buyer, first and foremost.
Tell us what you are looking for and your price limit. We search the trade market for you, from Liv-ex, the exchange that is the FTSE of the wine world, to merchants and private cellars, and buy on your behalf.
As a Liv-ex member we buy where the trade buys, at professional market prices, under our own name and at our own risk. The mandate is agreed with you in advance: what we buy, the limit and our terms.
Provenance, condition, fill levels and labels are verified before we commit. Further photographs on request, before anything is paid.
Collection, bonded storage, export papers, duties and delivery to your door, across Europe and through our own line to the United States. You do not have to arrange a thing.
Every shipment is insured from our warehouse to your door, wherever in the world that door may be. Or we keep your bottles in bond, insured, until you want them.
We would rather find you the right bottle next year than sell you the wrong one today.Give us a mandate ›
A great cellar starts with what you love to drink, not with scores or resale value. From there, we build outward in four steps.
Blanc de noirs from a single walled plot of 0.68 hectare in Ambonnay, released only in exceptional years. Every bottle numbered.
Available from Rue Pinard · ruepinard.comFollow the link beside any bottle, or reply to the email that brought you this issue. Private allocations are reserved by email.
The same day we confirm availability, condition and the delivery date. Further photographs and provenance details on request.
We buy under our own name and at our own risk, then deliver to your door, insured, or keep the bottles in bond for you.
In euro, in bond, excluding VAT and excise duty. For delivery within the EU we add the VAT and duty of your country and quote the total before you pay.
Most bottles exist in small numbers and are allocated in order of confirmation. All bottles subject to prior sale.
We can deliver to a recipient of your choice with a handwritten card. Tell us the message when you reserve.
Founded in 2012 by Bart Laming and Hakan Karaca, Rue Pinard is a principal trading house for fine wine and rare spirits in the Netherlands. We trade under our own name and at our own risk, as a member of Liv-ex, the global exchange for fine wine.
Our cellars hold some 30,000 references, kept almost entirely in bond across Brussels, Bordeaux, Tilbury, London and Hong Kong.
Wine is made to be opened. We are traders, not a fund: no promises on paper and no predictions. Only the right bottle, at the right moment, for the right table.
Released for The Macallan’s two-hundredth anniversary: single malt matured in sherry-seasoned oak, in its circular decanter.
Available from Rue Pinard · ruepinard.com