The Future’s Definitely Not What It Was: Bordeaux 2018

BY NEAL MARTIN | MARCH 09, 2021

Left Bank: Listrac & Moulis | Margaux | Pauillac | Pessac-Léognan and Graves | Saint-Estèphe | Saint-Julien | Satellites 

Right Bank: Pomerol | Saint-Émilion | Sauternes | Satellites 

The title of my 2018 en primeur report was “The Future’s Not What It Was,” a nod to personal circumstances and to the way climate change is reshaping the future. Who knew that within a few weeks, a global pandemic would make that title so apposite? And yet, despite the radical change in human lives and the unpredictability of the weather, Mother Nature keeps pushing the pedals of the season cycle. Year after year, like clockwork, vines bud, flower and produce fruit that turns into wine and ultimately lands on my desk for review. This is the first major report where I look back at a vintage born in pre-pandemic times. It’s like peering through a steamed-up window onto the past. So let’s rewind to 2018 BC (before COVID) and reexamine the growing season, when face masks were only worn by wrestlers, bubbles were what made kids laugh, “Zoom” was a guilty pleasure by Fat Larry’s Band and social distancing is what you did when your mother-in-law came round.

The Growing Season

The result of global warming is not simply an increase in average temperatures. It manifests binary growing seasons that, in 2018, witnessed deluges in the first half of the year, followed by continuous sunshine and barely a raindrop in the second. This pattern is being replicated in 2021, the Dordogne having burst its banks after more rain fell through the winter than the region has seen since the 1960s.

In 2018, the persistent rain in the first half of the year led to intense mildew pressure that particularly affected organically farmed and especially biodynamic vineyards; just ask Thomas Duroux at Palmer. The vines were then compensated with a hot, dry summer all the way through to harvest. You might presume that there was nothing to worry about since vineyards had sufficient water reserves to see them through the dry spell until harvest. But it’s not quite that simple. Vines dislike extremes, especially the jolt from very wet to very dry. They have no time to adapt to the new environment. Imagine if you were ordered to drink all the water you wanted from Monday to Thursday, but could not drink anything from Friday to Sunday. Wouldn’t you prefer to drink a little each day? 

With plenty of nitrogen in the soils, the vines developed large canopies and, to use Lafleur’s winemaker Omri Ram’s vernacular, could easily become “sugar machines.” This risked divergence between sugar and phenolic ripeness levels and often presented vineyard managers with a dilemma: pick early and avoid high alcohol or pick later and accept it. How chefs de culture tended their vineyards in this warm, dry period, when they decided to pick, and how they treated the concentrated, sugar-rich fruit in the winery all determined individual success or failure in 2018. 

Umbrellas up visiting Coutet during primeur that year. Photo copyright Johan Berglund.

How the Wines Were Tasted

With my fortnight tasting in Bordeaux canceled at the last moment, my key was barely in the front door when samples began washing up on my doorstep, no doubt expedited by concerns over impending Brexit. Like last spring, the steady deluge resulted in the largest in-bottle Bordeaux report that I have ever authored, encompassing over 1,000 wines, many of them tasted multiple times. In addition, I was able to decant and assess some of the bottles over 24 and sometimes 48 hours, revealing aspects of wines that would have been impossible to see in a fleeting Bordeaux visit. Though I eschew Zoom conversations that are little more than sales pitches, I have included those that add insight to my review.

General Overview of 2018 Bordeaux

The expanded number of wines in this report afforded me a more representative picture of how Bordeaux performed in 2018. Vintages judged solely by the performance of top estates will inevitably skew average scores upward and color one’s overall impression. True quality is determined by consistency down through the ranks of the hierarchy, which underpins the reputations of, say, 2005 or 2016. Top estates blessed with the deepest pockets have become almost insulated from the ups and downs of growing seasons. A truer litmus test is the performances of châteaux exposed to the caprice of Mother Nature and whose wines are molded by its challenges.

So how about the vintage in question?

Firstly, the overall style of 2018 is that it is concentrated, ripe, and finishes powerfully, with firm tannins and markedly high alcohol levels. The 2018 vintage is bold and brassy. It is not an elegant vintage compared to others and does not possess the subtleties of 2016 and possibly 2019. In essence, the 2018s pack a punch. There are similarities to the 2009 vintage, but with finer tannins and in many places even higher alcohol levels. Indeed, I had forgotten just how high the alcohol levels are on the Right Bank, a majority measuring in excess of 14.5% and numerous examples stating 15.0% on the label but tasting even higher. Basically, the 2018 is going to be ideal for anyone wishing to get drunk or drown their sorrows. Of course I’m being facetious; it is more than that.

The 2018 vintage exaggerates the differences between the haves and the have-nots. Those with great terroirs and those getting by with what they have; those practicing meticulous vineyard husbandry and those who cut corners; those prepared to pick at the optimal moment and those who play safe and pick at the earliest opportunity; those with modern wineries and those with only rudimentary tools at their disposal. These factors wedged a gap in quality, none more than quality of terroir. The dryness of the growing season amplified the differences from one terroir to another and winemakers’ decisions pried them further apart, when doubtless their intention was the opposite. While top châteaux could essentially take the 2018 growing season in their stride, to the point where they had to resist intervention and doing too much, other estates felt compelled to buff up a good wine into a great wine through winemaking techniques. The skill and experience of the winemaker came into play, and this enabled some small châteaux to conjure splendid wines that represent outstanding values, while others made a pig’s ear of it. 

In 2018, you do not have to step too far away from the best terroirs to find that quality dropped off faster than you might have hoped. This is not something I relish writing at a time when many estates worry about their future; however, it is the truth.