2019 Bordeaux from Bottle: The Two Towers

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Left Bank: Saint-Estèphe | Pauillac | Saint-Julien | Margaux | Pessac-Léognan & Graves | Satellites | Sauternes

Right Bank: Pomerol | Saint-Émilion | Satellites

Ever since the 2020 vintage was in the books, maybe even before, Bordeaux was buzzing with talk of a magnificent trilogy. The three consecutive vintages spanning 2018 through 2020 were spoken of in reverential, glowing terms that evoked mystical images of the “Lord of the Rings” or perhaps the grandeur of “Star Wars”. Now that the 2019s are in bottle, it’s time to take a look at the middle vintage in this collection, I mean trilogy, of three harvests that will surely be the center of much discussion for years to come. This article covers the main appellations of the Left and Right Banks. We will be adding wines from satellite appellations plus Sauternes in about a week's time.

Two years ago, in my article 2019 Bordeaux: A Long, Strange Trip, I wrote “I tasted phenomenal wines in every appellation, although there are some places that appear to have done exceptionally well, such as the north of Pauillac and into Saint-Estèphe on the Left Bank.” My tastings of the 2019s in bottle confirm that impression. Two thousand-nineteen is unquestionably a Left Bank vintage. That’s not to say there aren’t profound wines on the Right Bank; there most certainly are. But looking at things globally after tasting more than 800 wines, 2019 is simply stronger on the Left Bank than on the Right. 

Henri Lurton (left) and Estate Manager Christophe Capdeville (right) at Brane-Cantenac, one of the stars of the Left Bank in 2019.

I won’t repeat a breakdown of the growing season, as that has not changed over the last two years. Readers might want to revisit my en primeur report and/or check out Neal Martin’s recent article, Omne Trium Perfectum: Bordeaux 2019s in Bottle, for all the details. In short, after a very hot and dry summer, late season rains were welcomed in the Médoc, where parched Cabernets were happy to get some water. The sweet spot, in my view, is in Saint-Estèphe and Pauillac, where so many wines are exceptional to profound, at all levels in the hierarchy of terroirs. Quality is superb moving south into Saint-Julien and then Margaux, but maybe just a touch less impressive overall. Pessac-Léognan also looks very, very good. Many of the second wines (often shown en primeur on the Left Bank but less frequently on the Right) are fabulous. Overall, 2019 is an extremely high-quality and consistent vintage on Bordeaux’s Left Bank. 

Over on the Right Bank, where Merlot features more heavily, the heat of the vintage and late season rains were penalizing for some sites and wines. There are exceptions, and they are notable. But they are to be found in either top terroirs and/or in wines that have important components of Cabernets. Quality becomes more variable moving down the hierarchy and into the satellite appellations. A number of wines are disjointed, while others show signs of evolution that are not typical at this stage. The second wines are often less interesting than they are on the Left Bank.