IMW 2019 Claret Tasting

2019 Bordeaux Vintage - Claret Tasting

2019 was the second of a successful trio of rich, concentrated vintages; its quality was shaped by a hot, dry summer punctuated by just enough rain at strategic moments.
After a dry winter, a warm March encouraged an early bud burst and a sunny spring brought the risk of frost with night-time temperatures as low as -2C on 13th April and again at the beginning of May, but fortunately, nearly all the vineyards escaped without serious losses. Cooler weather in the second half of May slowed vine development, and the arrival of wet weather from 3rd June resulted in uneven flowering, particularly on the later cabernet varieties.
June overall was unremarkable, but temperatures rose at the end of the month to 36C on 27th June and July was even hotter with 41.5C recorded at Château la Lagune on 23rd July. The heatwave ended with thunderstorms on 26th July, but the rain brought welcome relief to the vines which were beginning to suffer from drought and encouraged the véraison which finished around 5th August for the Merlot and 15th August for the Cabernet Sauvignon.
August was hot and sunny, and the grapes ripened fast, with the skins thickening and the tannins and anthocyanins developing well. Fortunately, despite the high daytime temperatures, cool nights ensured that the fruit retained good acidity and there was a further, welcome, burst of rain at the end of the month.
The fine, dry weather returned at the beginning of September, and the harvest for the dry white wines, which had started as early as 29th August at Château Haut-Brion, was completed by the middle of the month. For the red wines, the Merlot vintage started on 10th September (Château Cheval Blanc) on the right bank and on 13th September (Château Latour) in the Médoc. The rain, however, finally arrived on 20th September and, with intermittent but sometimes heavy rain in the last ten days of September, there wasn’t the long window of fine weather for harvesting that there had been in 2018. The ground, however, was dry, and on well-drained soils, the rain was welcome and enabled the later-ripening cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon to achieve perfect maturity. The cabernets were picked from 19th September (cabernet franc at Château Figeac) to 21st September (cabernet sauvignon at Château Latour), with the majority harvested in the last week of September in Saint Émilion and Pomerol, and the first week of October in the Médoc. The risk of rot was present but, in most places, relatively easy to control.
The rain kickstarted the noble rot in Sauternes with picking commencing in earnest during the first week of October. Unfortunately, the weather broke with continuous heavy rain from 20th October, bringing an abrupt end to the sweet wine harvest and dashing hopes of a great vintage that would have matched the quality of the dry white and red wines.
With regard to the vinification of the red wines, it was relatively easy to extract flavour and tannin from the fully ripe, thick-skinned fruit and most winemakers opted for fermentation at lower temperatures (typically 26C instead of the traditional 30C) with less remontage (pumping over) than usual. The result was rich, flavoursome wines relatively high in alcohol (typically 13.5% on the left bank, 14% on the right) but with excellent freshness and harmony. They are already approachable and will age magnificently. There are lovely wines throughout the Bordeaux region, with no one area particularly favoured and quality descending all the way down the price ladder.
The dry whites, although very ripe, are mostly fresh, with satisfactory acidity. The sweet wines are mixed, as the best fruit was picked before the rain on 22nd October, with everything harvested after that date being of inferior quality. It is, therefore, the top châteaux who have the resources to put a significant proportion of the crop into their second wines that have turned out to be the most successful wines.
Finally, a note on the opening prices, which, as a result of the uncertain outlook at the beginning of Covid, were 20-30% lower than those for the 2018 vintage. The combination of high quality and attractive prices is a rare one and, unsurprisingly, all the successful wines have seen significant appreciation in value since their release. Extract taken from Charles Taylor MW