Right Bank
St-Emilion
Another excellent St-Emilion vintage following on from 2018, in most cases just as good as last year. Limestone always does well in hot vintages, with its ability to retain both moisture and freshness, but in 2019 the Corbin sector on the clays near to Pomerol also did a great job of resisting the periods of drought. Those down on the sandier soils struggled a little more without careful viticultural decisions. Water stress was less marked than in 2015, for example, because there was a 15°C swing of day and nighttime temperatures on average, unlike in 2015 and certainly unlike the unrelenting heat of 2003. Winemaking has also definitively turned a corner, which makes such a difference to the sapidity of the wines. Figeac is one of a number of estates not to carry out any punching down of the fruit during fermentation, opting instead for more gentle infusion methods, along with low temperatures to ensure slow extraction. In terms of the wines, no out-and-out potential 100s, but a crop of 98s that could well be upscored when retasted in bottle, and at least 20 estates above 95pts, from almost 200 wines tasted.
25 TOP SCORING Château Beauséjour Duffau- Lagarrosse 1GCCB 98
Another stunning vintage from this brilliant estate that is just delivering hit after hit. Concentration and intensity right from the initial aromatics, damson, cassis and blackberry fruits that you could almost drink now until the tannins build up across the palate and remind you that this is built to last. Velvety texture, black chocolate and crushed stone minerality on the finish. One of the wines of the vintage. Tasted twice, one week apart. 60% of production in the first wine. Drink 2027-2044
TOP SCORING Château Canon 1GCCB 98
Sleek, elegant and appealing even before you get your nose near the glass. Deep and rich aromatically, then it revs up and takes off. Dense, compact, intense; zingy limestone vibrancy and grip. You really feel the balance here, with tiny pulses of electricity appearing from beginning to end. Salinity on the finish with gunsmoke and extremely moreish blueberry and blackberry fruit, with a creamy texture as things open up. 50% new oak. Thomas Duclos consults. Drink 2028-2050 Alc 14.5%
26 TOP SCORING Château Cheval Blanc 1GCCA 98
Extremely precise floral and berry aromatics build out of the glass and this sense of construction continues through the palate. You get a whoosh of blueberry and blackberry, with sage, woodsmoke and crushed stone, all cut cleanly through, exposing juicy minerality and a feel of different elements layering on top of each other. 82% first wine in this vintage. Biodiversity is blooming at Cheval Blanc: 40 brebis goats and sheep since October 2019, pigs, 200 Bresse chicken, 40 egg-laying chickens, 16 beehives. Among the vines, 850 fruit trees were planted this winter and the soils are no longer worked. Less Cabernet Franc in the vineyard until 2022, due to replanting. Drink 2027-2044
Château Angélus 1GCCA 97
Supremely elegant, full of power. Here the depth of plum, damson, black cherry and cassis is evident, along with tension and freshness – a slow melding of flavour with concentration, liquorice root and baked earth coming in from the mid-palate. Has the feel of a serious wine that’s going to go the distance. The exuberance and confidence of Angélus comes as it opens, with the flavours and texture fattening up. The wine will be aged for one year in 30hl new-oak casks, and then go into barrel but without new oak for the last 10 months. A low pH means maybe a little less flesh than usual with Angélus, certainly less so than the 2018. This gets better and better in the glass, but giving it time is strongly recommended. Drink 2027-2044
Château Figeac 1GCCB 97
A higher amount of Cabernet Franc than usual in the blend, and you really get the Cabernet impact on the nose and on the attack – could easily be taken as Left Bank, given the liquorice root, menthol and leafy character. A rich creaminess comes in through the mid-palate, with sappy raspberry fruits alongside salinity and minerality. The exuberance of a warm summer is there but it is well hidden under the precision of the tannic structure overall. Extremely impressive: juicy on the finish and so careful in its tannic delivery. 100% new oak. Drink 2028-2046 Alc 14%
Château Pavie Macquin 1GCCB 97
Violet-edged floral attack, hitting you straight up with the full range of concentrated black fruits and spices. Such a great-quality wine that stands out from the pack. Full of nuance: just when you think you’re done it pushes in another flavour. The texture is controlled and precise, with slate edges that slow down its progress through the palate; all round excellent terroir and winemaking. Tasted twice, a week apart, and it’s the depth to the palate that really sets it apart, and the slow, slate finish. Drink 2028-2044
28 Château Rocheyron GC 97
Combining powerful blackberry, raspberry and cassis, with bitter-edged black chocolate and perfectly judged tannins that scrape through the finish like pure slate. Dives deep in terms of flavours and reach, and answers the expectations for a St-Emilion with breadth and impact, but doesn’t overpower and back pedals on the finish to end with lightness and grace. Really exceptional stuff from winemaker Peter Sisseck, with clear ageing potential showcasing the potential of the limestone. 40% new oak. Drink 2026-2042
Château Pavie 1GCCA 96
Excellent quality Pavie, if notably more subdued than in some vintages as the team looks to reframe just slightly the
bulging muscles of the past, and as the high levels of Cabernets Sauvignon and Franc make an impact. It takes a moment to adjust to, but when you sit with it, you feel a rippling frame to the wine, and a juicy central core. Fleshy cassis and blackberry fruits, slate walls and black truffle overlay. Will age extremely well. Drink 2027-2044 Alc 15%
29 Le Dôme GC 96
This is excellent, expertly judged and carefully extracted. It has its eye on long ageing but already the tannins are well defined and carefully brushed. I love the undercurrent of spice, edged with saffron and cinnamon alongside bitter black chocolate and lots of cassis. 80% new oak. Drink 2027-2042 Alc 14%
Château Canon- la- Gaffelière 1GCCB 95
I love the balance on display here, of powerful and softly whispering fruits, a tightrope of acidity and tannins giving structure. Great stuff, with the impact of 2018 but more freshness, although still with the signature glamour of a Neipperg wine in full flight. Drink 2025-2044 Alc 14%
Château La Gaffelière 1GCCB 95
An estate with a gathering sense of excitement around it, once again proving why with the 2019. Sleek and flavourful, with the insistent tug of limestone slowing things down and allowing the juice and the tension to really inform the palate. Creamy texture, with blueberry and raspberry against tobacco and crushed stone minerality. A success. Drink 2028-2044
Château Trotte Vieille 1GCCB 95
Blackberry, raspberry and cappuccinolaced liquorice notes on the attack. A clear austerity comes through as chalky tannins and fresh acidities that scrape through the finish along slate walls, adding a kick of salinity. Really one you need to sit with: as it relaxes in the glass, the peony and iris floral notes become clear, showcasing the Cabernet Franc in the wine, with smoked coffee beans ensuring a gourmet edge. Good stuff. Drink 2027-2044
30 TOP VALUE Saintayme GC 94
Black chocolate, baked earth, liquorice root and silky smooth tannins greet you. I’ve never found this the easiest to love of the Durantou range, but it is strikingly successful in 2019. Silky and yet slatey in texture, this both eases you through the palate and pulls you up short, slowing things down. Sparks of fresh minerality accompany the pulsing blueberry and raspberry fruits. Drink 2027-2042
TOP VALUE Château Tertre de la Mouleyre GC 93
Owned by Eric Jeanneteau, this estate isn’t as well known as it should be. It shows charming fruit in 2019, with crunchy blueberry and redcurrant, very gentle smoked-almond edging and a sappy lift through the finish. Really one to look out for and a value pick. Drink 2023-2036
TOP VALUE Clos Dubreuil GC 93
Always a name to look out for, displaying its trademark confidence here. With intense blackberry and cassis, this will take its time, easily at the level of classified St-Emilion with silky but plentiful tannins, all stretching out through the palate. Fermented and aged partly in stainless steel, partly in barrel. Drink 2024-2036
Pomerol
A clear contender for appellation of the vintage, with so many successful wines to choose from. It performed the miracle that only Pomerol seems able to, of Merlot on early-ripening gravel soils that manage to maintain freshness due to the underlying clays giving low pH, even with temperatures peaking at 41°C in July. There were some prune and fig notes, so watch out for those on sandier soils or from young vines, but there were also some of the best wines of the year here, and a lot of great-values. Three 100pt potentials here, more than anywhere else. Plus 10 wines at above 95pts (see Decanter.com/ Premium for full coverage), including a crop at 98pts which have the potential to be upgraded when tasted in bottle. The Pomerol plateau in particular has turned out hit after hit.
31 WINE OF THE VINTAGE POTENTIAL 100 Château L’Eglise- Clinet 99
If great wine is about emotion, as we so often say, then this is a wine to savour.
The last vintage under Denis Durantou, who passed away in May 2019, it will rightly be celebrated. But it also stands on its own, as a great Pomerol in a vintage where the plateau wines of this appellation have really stood out: a teasing mix of power and a feather-light touch, that trick that Durantou managed to pull off time and again. A serious wine, more so than many in Pomerol this year, with tannins that pull you back (character that you also see in La Petite Eglise this year), emphasising the slate and crushed-stone character to the texture. Liquorice and cassis, blackberry, and a cooler blueberry note, wrapped up in dark black chocolate. This deserves its high score, one that I have given to only a handful in this vintage. 70% new oak. Drink 2029-2050 Alc 14.5%
32 POTENTIAL 100 Château L’Evangile 99
From the very first moment your nose approaches the glass, you know something special is happening. Seductive, rich, mouthfilling to the point that you really understand what it means, with luscious brambly raspberry fruit density, but also vertical climb through the palate. Violet notes marry with baked earth, grilled liquorice, tension and seduction. Highest level of Cabernet Franc in the blend in recent history, and the first time that they have used all the Cabernet Franc available in the vineyard – also the first time to have this touch of Cabernet Sauvignon ( just 0.5%) since the Rothschilds arrived at the estate. Have I tasted a better L’Evangile? Not at this stage, and it’s one of the very few wines in 2019 that I can say without question approaches a perfect score. This is off-the-scale delicious, and I can’t wait to taste it in bottle. Drink 2027-2050
33 POTENTIAL 100 Château Lafleur 99
On the palate you get touches of iris alongside an earthiness, coupled with a grip of tannins that expands through the mid-palate then clamps down pretty sternly on the finish. Strong liquorice and chocolate notes, but the emphasis is clearly on slate and crushed stones, cigar box and cloves, with a strong, serious spine. This is as close as it gets to 100pts during en primeur, and is a reflection of just how impressively the Pomerol plateau has performed in 2019. Stainless steel vinification, 15 months’ ageing in barrel, 33% new oak. Drink 2027-2050 Alc 14%
Château Trotanoy 98
As is so often the case, a different frame and a different conversation is going on at Trotanoy. Darker fruit than many in the vintage, with firm and plentiful tannins, really knitted down cassis and bilberry that opens up through the palate and adds layers of earth, slate, liquorice, coffee and chocolate, but all holding back, content to be subtle hints at this stage of the process. It’s hard to argue with. Unusually 100% Merlot. Drink 2027-2048 Alc 14.5%
Petrus 98
No surprise that the sticky clay of Petrus withstood the heat, keeping freshness and form. High aromatics, lush and open at first, with iris flowers followed by plum, raspberry and blackberry. High tannic mass compared to 2018, felt only through an undertow that anchors the fruit down. Evolves from red and blue fruits to black, as the tannins show their muscles, which were sleek at first and then build, flexing alongside cocoa, chocolate, liquorice root and smoke. They measure the weight of tannins at this estate and found almost twice as many as in 2018, meaning shorter and softer extraction was needed to ensure no overload. The wine surprises you, changing in character as it moves through the palate, becoming darker and more serious where at first it was fruit and flowers. Brilliant. Drink 2029-2050
Château La Fleur- Pétrus 97
Beautiful aromatics. The texture is velvety, with a sense of energy and precision that showcases the barest flicks of graceful minerality as it heads through the palate. Seriously enjoyable wine, one to note. It’s concentrated, with focused bramble fruit, relatively low acidity compared to 2018, but sumptuous. Drink 2027-2045 Alc 15%
Vieux Château Certan 97
A wonderful, balanced wine, great depth of black fruit, lace and satin, opening up to show raspberry and redcurrant fruits.
It’s extremely complete, and you just want to enjoy it – no aggression to these tannins. With 66% new oak, all the estate’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc grapes are here (with the second wine 100% Merlot), surely helping to bring sapidity and flavoursome savoury character. Drink 2026-2042 Alc 14.5%
Château Clinet 95
Seductive, appealing blend of rich coffee and chocolate alongside pulsing cassis and bilberry fruits. Great quality Clinet, well expressed with controlled fruits and firm tannins giving it a pretty strict frame at this point. A high proportion (20%) of Cabernet Sauvignon for a Pomerol, and it gives characteristic poise and balance. 75% new oak. Drink 2028-2044 Alc 14.5%
TOP VALUE Enclos Tourmaline 94
Peter Kwok-owned estate in Pomerol and another success in the vintage. A serious wine, with fully plumped out walls, pretty splendid in feel (not a word I ever use in tasting notes, but it seems appropriate). Concentrated, but with a cushion of air underneath, tons of black cherry pumped up with chocolate, cigar box, black truffle and spice. 30% new oak. Drink 2025-2044
Château Bonalgue 92
Extremely appealing, approachable, a less serious Pomerol in terms of its structure, but one that will provide lots of pleasure with only three or four years of waiting. The profile of this wine has definitely been finessed over the past few years, and this is worth looking out for. Drink 2022-2030
TOP VALUE Château Guillot Clauzel 92
This has clear mid-palate expansion and gentle sweet berry fruits with layers and precision. Extremely Pomerol, a lovely wine. 50% new oak. Second year with Guillaume Thienpont overseeing the vineyard. Drink 2024-2038 Alc 14.7%
Fronsac & Canon Fronsac, Satellites & the Côtes
Some real successes in these appellations, often competing with St-Emilion itself, but at far better prices. The rise of Malbec shows no signs of abating, and I lost count of the number of wines that had that spicy, dark-skinned grape in the blend – something that has been true for a number of years in the Côtes, but is now increasingly notable in Lalandede-Pomerol, the St-Emilion satellites and Fronsac. Hard to separate the top-scorers and value picks in these appellations, and so often the wines are both, but La Vieille Cure in
Fronsac is one of the value picks of the vintage, up at the magic 94pt mark...
Fronsac 34 TOP VALUE Château La Vieille Cure 94
New owners since 2018, and still one of the go-to wines in Fronsac. Great texture, brambly berry fruits, with the gourmet, chocolate edge that is so lovable in
‘The Pomerol plateau in particular has turned out hit after hit’
La Vieille Cure. Dark spice adds shape and focus. A clear signpost to quality potential in 2019. 70% new oak. Drink 2024-2036
TOP VALUE Château Les Trois Croix 93
As ever this is one of the value buys of Bordeaux, just such an impressive wine that is dripping with damson fruit, silky and fresh with caramel hints balanced by mouthwatering salinity on the finish. 35% new oak. Tasted twice, loved both times. The first full vintage since Patrick Léon passed away, with the estate now run by his son Bertrand. Drink 2024-2036
TOP VALUE Château Moulin
Haut- Laroque 92
Plush and sleek black fruits pair with freshness that comes through as a cushion of air underneath the fruit, and a chocolate finish adds a gourmet touch. Great mix of plump fruit and austere tannic grip, classic appellation markers in a good vintage. 100% new oak, but it eats it up smoothly even at this early stage. 5% Malbec completes the blend. Drink 2023-2036
Canon Fronsac Château Toumalin 92
Another 2019 Fronsac success. Lots of sappy blackberry fruits, limestone character alongside chocolate and coffee, all with restraint and focus. Hard to argue with, and will be ready to drink within three or four years. Drink 2022-2038
Lalande de Pomerol
Château La Fleur de Boüard, Le Plus 93 The special bottling of La Fleur de Boüard, from the oldest Merlot vines on the estate: low yield, aged in 100% new oak. Lovely violet reflections on the rim, good purity of damson and black cherry making this seductive and pretty irresistible. Heavy bottle alert though. Drink 2024-2036
Château Les Cruzelles 93
From 10.5ha on clay and gravel, this stands out above the same estate’s La Chenade (more sand and gravel), in the yin and yang of these two terroirs.
Has more signature of the Pomerol side of Lalande, with rich coffee-tinged blackberry fruits, and beautiful control and lift. Silky, elegant, concentrated, this is a wine that represents a tribute to the brilliance of Denis Durantou in these smaller appellations. Drink 2023-2036
35 TOP VALUE La Sergue 93
A consistently impressive bottling from Pascal Chatonnet, made by careful selection of his best plots, with a healthy dash of Malbec alongside Merlot and Cabernet Franc. It’s a very good wine, with silky layers of cassis and bilberry fruit and a kick of chocolate and violet-laced liquorice. There is austerity on the finish, tannins pretty healthily paying attention to the fruits, and overall you are getting good quality here. Drink 2022-2034
Côtes de Bordeaux Château Le Rey, Les Argileuses, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux 93
One of the two Le Rey wines, from the more clay-heavy vineyard plots but with the same limestone influence underneath. Has plenty of grip on the finish, and overall is extremely seductive with blackberry and raspberry notes, and a clear cocoa dusting. Certainly an exceptional wine in Castillon. Drink 2025-2040
Château Montlandrie, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux 93
Cinnamon and spice box with pulped raspberry fruits on the nose. Has typical restrained exuberance, the ripe fruits balanced step by step with fresh acidities and lip-smacking salinity that speaks to the limestone soils of this estate. Cabernet Sauvignon adds a savoury touch, and overall yet another example of why the loss of Denis Durantou will be felt for years. Drink 2025-2036
Clos Puy Arnaud, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux 93
Always a benchmark wine for me in terms of the success of a vintage, and this is promising from the start, with silky, inky-purple depths to the colour and clear ease of extraction. Pulses of black cherry fruit on the attack, and it’s sleek without sacrificing a sense of energy and uplift. Extremely good quality, you’re going to want to get on board. For me clearly better than the 2018 at this stage, great stuff from owner Thierry Valette. Biodynamic. Drink 2023-2040
36 TOP VALUE Domaine de L’Aurage, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux 93
The Louis Mitjavile estate that is rightly causing a buzz. Now almost a decade and a half under his ownership and fully into its stride, this feels ripe and textured, with the minerality and austerity clear in every step. With fairly powerful knitted-down fruit and seductive oak traces, this is built to go the distance and has chewy tannins on the finish. Good stuff – give it a good few years in bottle. Drink 2024-2040
Château Ad Francos, Francs Côtes de Bordeaux 92
An estate to watch, full of ambition but also smart winemaking. This has broad shoulders and makes an impression with its savoury but plentiful black fruits and big tannic structure. Worth taking note of yet again in 2019. Michel Rolland is the consultant. Drink 2024-2032
Château d’Aiguilhe, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux 92
A brilliant wine that maintains clear grip from start to finish. With its powerful black fruits and silky-smooth texture, clear austerity with fresh acidities, this is mouthwatering on the finish and totally moreish. Drink 2023-2036
TOP VALUE Chateau Joanin Bécot, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux 92
Evident freshness from the first moment, plenty of body to the savoury red fruits. Everything is in balance and you get juice and deepening gourmet touches of chocolate shavings and salinity as it builds to the finish. Great stuff, and low SO2 additions. Drink 2023-2036 Alc 14.2%
TOP VALUE Château Réaut, Cadillac Côtes de Bordeaux 90
Bright, perky, ruby-red fruit, very good quality at an estate that offers great value and is an excellent choice at the entry point. The Carat bottling from the same estate is also excellent this year, quite different in feel as it’s 80% Cabernet Sauvignon compared to the Merlot dominance of the main estate wine. Aged 50% barrel, 50% vat. Drink 2022-2038