The Future’s Not What It Was: Bordeaux 2018
BY NEAL MARTIN |
Left Bank: Margaux | Pauillac | Pessac-Léognan | Saint-Estèphe | Saint-Julien | Satellites
Right Bank: Pomerol | Saint-Émilion | Sauternes | Satellites
“L’avenir est comme le reste: il n’est plus ce qu’il était” – poet Paul Valéry (1937)
The opening quotation translates as: “The future, like everything else, is no longer quite what it used to be.” It pertains to this article on multiple levels. Firstly, the macro environment and the issue of global warming. No, we will not see Greta Thunberg sailing down the Gironde quite yet, but unusually dry and hot growing seasons have become the norm, and in conversation with winemakers, I notice how even the most skeptical accept that it is not passing phase. Warmer temperatures will shape future practices required to counter higher alcohol and lower acidity levels. Secondly, the quotation applies to the economic factors that confront the en primeur system. Châteaux withholding stock and withdrawing by stealth from the Place de Bordeaux; competition from ever-improving wine regions snapping at their heels; release prices that range from reasonable to comical; the changing role and consolidation of négociants; merchants cherry-picking primeur releases and ignoring the rest; fluctuating demand, consumer fatigue at yet another hyped vintage and the risk of oversupply; and don’t let’s start on the nasty surprise of 25% import tariffs. Thirdly, that phrase is apt on a personal level. For the first time in 20 years, I was prevented from attending the spring barrel tastings, by a spot of surgery. My future? It isn’t what I thought it would be.
Nevertheless, I resolved that once shipshape, I would report on the latest vintage; I would rather look back upon 2019 as a year when I had to postpone my primeur report, not cancel it altogether. Moreover, I had always entertained the idea of tasting barrels later in the year, given numerous winemakers imploring that their newborns taste better further down their élevage. Here was an opportunity to discover how true that is.
I spent two weeks in Bordeaux in late September as the secateurs were being sharpened for the 2019 harvest, enabling me to witness the new crop up close while judging the previous one. My trip was slightly shorter than usual, so the number of visits and tastings had to be rationed. I had no desire to hurtle from one château to another, squeezing in as much as humanly possible. A couple of estates were understandably occupied with the harvest and could not see me, but totting up the notes, only a handful of names are missing. (I will make sure they are included in my in-bottle report.) As usual, photographer-cum-wingman Johan Berglund was indispensable while driving the length and breadth of Bordeaux, and his photos adorn this report.
Tasting at Latour. The First Growth produced an outstanding 2018, although the château having withdrawn from offering their wines the following spring, it will not be available to buy for a number of years.
The Growing Season
I will not dwell on the growing season since Antonio Galloni has summarized it on Vinous already. Simply, 2018 falls into a type of vintage that is becoming more regular: Rainy in the first half, sunny in the second. I recommend reading Baptiste Guinaudeau’s analysis of patterns in the Pomerol section. Persistent rain caused intense mildew pressure that acutely affected organically and especially biodynamically farmed vineyards such as Château Palmer. Once you had survived the traumatic first part of the season, the vines enjoyed a blissfully hot and dry summer all the way through to harvest. There is only one point I wish to add to my colleague’s vintage summary. He made a crucial point that much success stems from wineries being equipped with various-sized vats that are smaller than in the past, enabling pickers to zone in on specific parcels at a specific time (as long as it’s not the weekend) and ferment those plots individually. The challenge is twofold. Firstly, picking earlier in the season, when there are more daylight hours, means that daily sugar accumulation is more rapid than if it were later; ergo, picking a day or two tardy may result in higher alcohol than intended. Secondly, the desired sugar level must be attained when the fruit achieves phenolic ripeness, which nowadays tends to lag behind due to shortened hang time. In some cases, I found potentially good 2018s marred by one or two vats that clearly contained green fruit.
Assessing wines further down their barrel maturation meant that in some cases I tasted the final blend, whereas back in March/April they would have been an estimation of that blend. I had to be mindful of when racking had been done, just like in Burgundy, and I accounted for the fact that the gestating wines would have absorbed more oak by that stage. Some growers opined that their 2018s had become “more serious” since en primeur. Then again, I am sure they prefer their wines flatter exactly at the time when journalists migrate down in spring.
The Wines
The 2018 vintage is very good to excellent in quality. However, it does not demonstrate the consistency of 2005 or 2016, and it lacks the pinnacles that mark 2010 and, again, 2016.
It is clear that 2018 is a flattering vintage and, coupled with the well-oiled promotional machine cranked up each primeur, I see how it prompted occasionally eulogistic reviews. The style of these, let us not forget, unfinished wines, with all their succulent ripe fruit and silky textures, renders them seductive. But I aver that Bordeaux should aspire toward more than sensory fulfillment. This is a vintage where I sought to look beyond the obvious tangible elements of the samples and focus on more intangible elements. Does the potential wine communicate the signature traits of the château? Does it translate the typicité of the appellation? Behind the sensory appeal, does it bestow an intellectual aspect elevating it above its peers and toward the pinnacles of those aforementioned vintages? Away from the hullabaloo and high production values of en primeur, tasting at a slightly slower pace in tranquil surroundings, one could really dissect the wines and probe winemakers face-to-face, objectively examine the samples in the context of the previous twenty vintages that I have appraised from barrel. This approach revealed a handful of genuinely astonishing 2018s. Others fell a bit short of the high expectations that are justifiably attached to wines where no expense is spared.
Scores never tell the whole story. Perhaps mine are lower than others and sometimes by a significant margin. That does not bother me; I tell it like it is. I mention this because the lower number can be misconstrued as a damning assessment when in truth, relative to recent vintages, I certainly view the 2018s in a positive light. I enjoyed them immensely and have no doubt they will bestow great pleasure. And yet there was not a single occasion when I encountered a barrel sample that intimated potential perfection. Not once. That is not being mean; it is just a sober evaluation. There are two further points that I will make. When I questioned winemakers further, on several occasions I noticed how their initial unbridled enthusiasm for 2018 did not exactly burst under questioning, but seemed to gently deflate, perhaps to a degree more commensurate with the quality of the wine. And a majority of winemakers believe that their 2019s are superior to 2018 due to slightly better pH. Having witnessed the harvest first-hand, I believe their optimism is not misplaced. I anticipate that superlatives lavished on the 2018s will not be quite so forthcoming once there is the next vintage to sell.
As usual, this report breaks down the vintage by appellation (links provided at the top of this page). But let’s briefly scan the market for Bordeaux. Rough seas ahead?
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Having tasted en primeur during Spring for over 20 years, for one time only, I assess the 2018 vintage six months later than normal in September. The big question is this: Does 2018 truly belong among the legendary Bordeaux vintages?
Show all the wines (sorted by score)
Producers in this Article
- Aile d'Argent
- Ampélia
- Angélus
- Ausone
- Balestard La Tonnelle
- Barde-Haut
- Batailley
- Beaumont
- Beauregard
- Beau-Séjour Bécot
- Beau-Site
- Bélair-Monange
- Belle Coline
- Bellefont-Belcier
- Bellevue Mondotte
- Bellevue (Saint-Émilion)
- Berliquet
- Bernard Magrez
- Bertineau Saint-Vincent
- Beychevelle
- Bonalgue
- Bourgneuf
- Bournac
- Bouscaut
- Branaire-Ducru
- Brane-Cantenac
- Brillette
- Cadet-Bon
- Calicem
- Calon Ségur
- Cambon La Pelouse
- Canon
- Canon La Gaffelière
- Cantemerle
- Cantenac Brown
- Cantin
- Capbern
- Cap de Faugères
- Cap de Moulin
- Carbonnieux
- Caronne Ste Gemme
- Carteau Côtes Daugay
- Certan de May
- Chantegrive
- Charmail
- Chasse-Spleen
- Château Beauséjour JDL
- Château Margaux
- Chauvin
- Cheval Blanc
- Cissac
- Citran
- Clerc-Milon
- Clinet
- Clos 56
- Clos Badon
- Clos Beauregard
- Clos Cantenac
- Clos de la Sérénité
- Clos de la Vieille Église
- Clos de l'Oratoire
- Clos de Sarpe
- Clos des Prince
- Clos Dubreuil
- Clos du Clocher
- Clos du Marquis
- Clos Floridène
- Clos Fourtet
- Clos Haut-Peyraguey
- Clos La Madeleine
- Clos L'Eglise
- Clos Lunelles
- Clos Margalaine
- Clos Marsalette
- Clos René
- Clos Romanile
- Corbin
- Cos d'Estournel
- Cos Labory
- Côte de Baleau
- Coudert
- Courlat
- Coutet
- Couvent des Jacobins
- Croix Cardinale
- Croix de Beaucaillou
- Croix de Bertinat
- Croix de Labrie
- Croix des Rouzes
- Croix du Trale
- Croizet-Bages
- d'Aiguilhe
- Dalem
- d'Arce
- d'Armailhac
- Dassault
- de Camensac
- de Chambrun
- de Ferrand
- de Fieuzal
- de Francs
- de La Cour d'Argent
- de Lamarque
- de Malle
- de Malleret
- de Millery
- de Myrat
- de Pez
- de Pressac
- de Saint-Pey
- Desmirail
- Destieux
- de Valois
- de Viaud
- d'Issan
- Doisy-Daëne
- Doisy-Védrines
- Domaine de Chevalier
- Domaine de Gachet
- Domaine de L'A
- Domaine de L'Eglise
- Domaine des Sabines
- du Cartillon
- Ducluzeau
- Ducru-Beaucaillou
- du Gazin
- Duhart-Milon
- du Moulin Rouge
- du Tertre
- Enclos Tourmaline
- Faugères
- Faurie de Souchard
- Ferran
- Figeac
- Filhot
- Fleur Cardinale
- Fombrauge
- Fonbadet
- Fonplégade
- Fonréaud
- Fonroque
- Fontenil
- Fougas Maldoror
- Fourcas-Borie
- Franc La Rose
- Franc Lartigue
- Franc-Mayne
- Franc Pipeau
- Gazin
- Gazin Rocquencourt
- Gigault
- Girolate
- Giscours
- Gloria
- Grand Corbin
- Grand Corbin Despagne
- Grand Corbin Manuel
- Grand Mayne
- Grand-Pontet
- Grand-Puy Ducasse
- Grand-Puy-Lacoste
- Grand Village (Lafleur)
- Grangey
- Grangey Le Cerisier
- Gruaud Larose
- Haut-Bages Libéral
- Haut-Bages-Monpelou
- Haut-Bailly
- Haut-Batailley
- Haut-Brion
- Haut-Brisson
- Haut-Cadet
- Haut-Madrac
- Haut-Maillet
- Haut-Marbuzet
- Haut-Rocher
- Haut-Sarpe
- Haut Veyrac
- Hosanna
- JCP Maltus
- JCP Maltus - Laforge
- JCP Maltus - Le Carré
- JCP Maltus - Le Dôme
- JCP Maltus - Les Astéries
- JCP Maltus - Pontet Labrie
- JCP Maltus - Teyssier
- JCP Maltus - Vieux Château Mazerat
- Jean Faure
- Joanin Bécot
- Kirwan
- La Cabanne
- La Chandellière
- La Chénade
- La Clémence
- La Comédie
- La Conseillante
- La Création
- La Croix de Casse
- La Dauphine
- La Dominique
- Lafite-Rothschild
- Lafleur
- La Fleur
- Lafleur-Gazin
- La Fleur la Mothe
- La Fleur-Pétrus
- Lafon-Rochet
- La Fortune
- La Gaffelière
- La Grâce Dieu Les Menuts
- Lagrange (Pomerol)
- La Grangère
- Lagrange (Saint-Julien)
- La Grave
- Lalande-Borie
- La Marzelle
- La Mission Haut-Brion
- La Mondotte
- Lamothe-Guignard
- Lanessan
- Langoa-Barton
- Laniote Saint-Émilion
- La Papeterie
- La Patache
- La Pointe
- Larcis Ducasse
- Larmande
- Laroque
- Larrivaux
- Larrivet Haut-Brion
- Lascombes
- La Serre
- Latour
- Latour à Pomerol
- La Tour Blanche
- La Tour Carnet
- La Tour de Bessan
- La Tour de By
- La Tour de Mons
- La Tour du Pin Figeac
- Latour-Martillac
- La Vieille Cure
- La Violette
- Le Bon Pasteur
- Le Boscq
- Le Caillou
- Le Chemin
- Le Clos du Beau-Père
- Le Gay
- L'Eglise-Clinet
- Le Moulin
- Léoville Barton
- Léoville Las Cases
- Léoville-Poyferré
- Le Pape
- Le Pin
- Le Prieuré
- Les Carmes Haut-Brion
- Les Champs Libres
- Les Cruzelles
- Les Gourdins
- Les Grandes Murailles
- Les Grands Chênes
- Les Gravières
- Les Hauts-Conseillants
- Lespault-Martillac
- Les Perrières de Lafleur
- Lestage
- Lestage Simon
- L'Évangile
- Leydet Valentin
- L'If
- Lilian Ladouys
- Lynch-Bages
- Lynch-Moussas
- Lynsolence
- Magrez-Fombrauge
- Malartic-Lagravière
- Mangot
- Marjosse
- Marojallia
- Marquis de Terme
- Maucaillou
- Mauvais Garçon (aka Bad Boy)
- Mauvesin Barton
- Mazeyres
- Meyney
- Milens
- Millaud Montlabert
- Monbousquet
- Monbrison
- Monregard La Croix
- Montlandrie
- Montlisse
- Mont-Pérat
- Montrose
- Moulin de Blanchon
- Moulin du Cadet
- Moulin Haut-Laroque
- Moulis
- Mouton-Rothschild
- Nénin
- Noaillac
- Olivier
- Ormes de Pez
- Palais Cardinal
- Palatin
- Palmer
- Paloumey
- Pape Clément
- Pauillac par Pascale Peyronie
- Pavie
- Pavie Decesse
- Pavie-Macquin
- Pavillon Beauregard
- Pédesclaux
- Petit Faurie de Soutard
- Petit-Soutard
- Petrus
- Peyrabon
- Phélan Ségur
- Pibran
- Pichon Baron
- Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande
- Pierhem
- Pierre 1er (formerly La Croix Figeac)
- Pindefleurs
- Plincette
- Poesia
- Poitevin
- Porte Chic
- Potensac
- Poujeaux
- Prieuré-Lichine
- Quinault L'Enclos
- Quintus
- Rauzan Gassies
- Rauzan-Ségla
- Rayne-Vigneau
- Reynon
- Richelieu
- Rieussec
- Rocheyron
- Rolland-Maillet
- Rouget
- Saintayme
- Sainte-Barbe
- Saint-Pierre (Saint-Julien)
- Sansonnet
- Sénéjac
- Séraphine
- Sergant
- Sigalas-Rabaud
- Siran
- Smith Haut Lafitte
- Sociando-Mallet
- Soutard
- Soutard-Cadet
- Suduiraut
- Talbot
- Tayac
- Tessendey
- Thieuley
- Tour du Haut Moulin
- Tour Maillet (Lagardère)
- Tour Saint Christophe
- Trimoulet
- Tronquoy-Lalande
- Troplong Mondot
- Trotanoy
- Trotte Vieille
- Valandraud
- Vieux Château Certan
- Villemaurine
- Virginie Thunevin
- Vray Croix de Gay
- Xans Entre Amis
- Yon-Figeac
- Yquem
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- Cellar Favorite: 1970 La Tour Haut-Brion (Nov 2019)
- Cellar Favorite: 1990 Château Latour (Nov 2019)
- A Century - Not Out: Talbot 1919-2010 (Oct 2019)
- Remembering Jean-Bernard Delmas (Oct 2019)
- The Cat’s Whiskers: Bordeaux 1961 (Oct 2019)
- The Other Side of Bordeaux (Sep 2019)
- Cellar Favorite: 1947 Carbonnieux Blanc (Sep 2019)
- A Century of Bordeaux: The Nines (Sep 2019)
- Songs Full of Light - Lafaurie-Peyraguey 1906-2018 (Aug 2019)
- Two Imaginary Boys: Pichon-Lalande (Aug 2019)
- Cellar Favorite: 1904 & 1948 Langoa-Barton (Aug 2019)
- Vinous Table: TentaziOni, Bordeaux, France (Jul 2019)
- Precious Clay: L’Eglise-Clinet 1929–2015 (Jul 2019)
- "G" Acte 1 to 8 (Jul 2019)
- Finally: Bordeaux 2015 In Bottle (Jul 2019)
- Cellar Favorite: 1970 Gallais Bellevue (Jun 2019)
- Finding Filhot: Filhot 1935-2015 (May 2019)
- Cellar Favorite: 1934 Cheval Blanc (May 2019)
- Bordeaux 2018: Back in Black (Apr 2019)
- The Margaux Paragon: Rauzan-Ségla 1900-2015 (Apr 2019)
- Cellar Favorite: Château Latour: 2019 New Releases (Apr 2019)
- An Education: La Dominique 1989-2015 (Apr 2019)
- Cellar Favorite: 1988 Ausone (Apr 2019)
- Setting Sail - Malartic-Lagravière 1916 - 2013 (Apr 2019)
- What Nectar!! Suduiraut 1899-2015 (March 2019)
- A Test Of Greatness: 2009 Bordeaux Ten Years On (March 2019)
- Outsider Looking In: Sociando-Mallet 1982-2015 (March 2019)
- Cellar Favorite: 1869, 1879 & 1893 d’Yquem (March 2019)
- Cellar Favorites: 1953 & 1975 l’Angélus (Feb 2019)
- Looking The Part: Pichon-Baron 1953 – 2015 (Jan 2019)
- The DBs: Bordeaux 2016 In Bottle (Jan 2019)
- Cellar Favorite: 2005 Larcis Ducasse (Jan 2019)
- 2016 Bordeaux…It’s All In The Bottle (Jan 2019)
- Long Distance Runner: Brane-Cantenac 1924-2015 (Jan 2019)
- Cellar Favorites: Coutet Cuvée Madame (Jan 2019)
2018
- Cellar Favorites: 1945, 1966 & 1982 Gruaud Larose (Dec 2018)
- Cellar Favorite: 1970 Château de Fieuzal Rouge (Dec 2018)
- Enigma Variations: Lafleur 1955-2015 (Nov 2018)
- Cellar Favorite: 1956 Château Léoville Barton (Oct 2018)
- Where Value Lies: First Look At 2016 Bordeaux (Oct 2018)
- Fairest of Them All: Cos d’Estournel 1928 – 2015 (Oct 2018)
- Sharing Alike: Petrus 1947 - 2015 (Sep 2018)
- Cellar Favorite: 1906 Château d’Arche Crème de Tête (Aug 2018)
- Aiming High: Haut-Condissas 1997–2015 (Aug 2018)
- The Marital Margaux: d’Issan 1945-2015 (Jul 2018)
- Cellar Favorite: 1900 Château Margaux Deuxième Vin (Jul 2018)
- Cellar Journal – Bordeaux to Start… (Jul 2018)
- Looking Back To Go Forward: Lafite-Rothschild 1868 – 2015 (Jul 2018)
- In Excelsis: Château Latour 1887 – 2010 (Jul 2018)
- Cellar Favorites: Laville Haut-Brion (Jul 2018)
- Bordeaux In Excelsis (Jun 2018)
- Cellar Favorite: 1955 Château Latour (Jun 2018)
- Last Man Standing: Bel-Air Marquis d’Aligre (May 2018)
- A Century of Bordeaux: The Eights (May 2018)
- Purple Reign: La Conseillante 1966-2015 (May 2018)
- 2017 Bordeaux: The Heart of the Matter (May 2018)
- 2017 Bordeaux : Au cœur de l'affaire (May 2018)
- The F-Word: Bordeaux 2017 (May 2018)
- The F-Word: Bordeaux Left Bank 2017 (May 2018)
- The F-Word: Bordeaux Right Bank 2017 (May 2018)
- Cellar Favorite: 1947 Cos d’Estournel (Apr 2018)
- Mother & Child: La Lagune 1962 – 2015 (Apr 2018)
- Cellar Favorite: 2006 Tertre Rôteboeuf (Apr 2018)
- A Beautiful Stay: Beau-Séjour Bécot 1970-2015 (Apr 2018)
- Cellar Favorite: 1973 Pétrus (Apr 2018)
- Vinous Table: TentaziOni, Bordeaux, France (Apr 2018)
- Cellar Favorite: Château Latour: Latest Releases (Apr 2018)
- Bordeaux 2014: The Southwold Tasting (Mar 2018)
- Here We Go Again: Value Bordeaux 2015 (Mar 2018)
- Long and Winding Road: Ausone 1912–1999 (Mar 2018)
- Cellar Favorite: 1990 Troplong Mondot (Mar 2018)
- 2015 Bordeaux: Every Bottle Tells a Story... (Feb 2018)
- The Magician’s Fool: 1950s Bordeaux (Feb 2018)
- Juxtapose With You: Pétrus, Lafleur & Le Pin (Feb 2018)
- 2008 Bordeaux: A Day In A Life (Feb 2018)
2017
- Remembering Bob Wilmers (Dec 2017)
- Cellar Favorite: 2000 Smith Haut Lafitte (Dec 2017)
- Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival 2017 (Nov 2017)
- Remembering Patrick Maroteaux (Nov 2017)
- Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 1921-2016 (Oct 2017)
- Cellar Favorites: Château Latour – 2017 Library Releases (May 2017)
- Cellar Favorite: 1983 Château Gruaud-Larose (May 2017)
- Cellar Favorite: 1986 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey (May 2017)
- 2016 Bordeaux: It’s Now or Never, Baby (Apr 2017)
- 2016 Bordeaux: 30 Top Values (Apr 2017)
- Larcis Ducasse Retrospective: 1945-2014 (Mar 2017)
- 2014 Bordeaux: A September Surprise (Feb 2017)
2016
2015
- 2005 Bordeaux with Tanzer & Galloni (Nov 2015)
- Cellar Favorite: 1982 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (May 2015)
- Cellar Favorite: 1982 Château Margaux (May 2015)
- 2014 Bordeaux – Les Découvertes: Under the Radar Gems and Sleepers (May 2015)
- 2014 Bordeaux – Vintage Highlights (May 2015)
- 2014 Bordeaux: It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over (Apr 2015)
- Le Miracle de Haut-Brion (Dec 2014)
2014
- Cristal and Icons from Piedmont & Bordeaux (Oct 2014)
- 2011 Bordeaux from the Bottle (Jul 2014)
- Bordeaux 2013: Definitely Not the Vintage of the Century (May 2014)
- 2013 Bordeaux: Walking the Tightrope (Apr 2014)
- Vinous Table: L’Univerre, Bordeaux (Apr 2014)
- Vertical Tasting of Chateau Pavie Macquin (Mar 2014)
- Vertical Tasting of Chateau Branaire-Ducru (Mar 2014)
2013
2012
- 2011 Bordeaux: Sauternes (Aug 2012)
- 2011 Bordeaux: Dry Whites (Aug 2012)
- The 2009 Clarets (Jul 2012)
- The Bordeaux Effect (Jun 2012)
- Bordeaux 2011: Tales of Tannins and Terroir (May 2012)
- 1982 Bordeaux at Age 30 (May 2012)
- Vertical Tasting of Château Magdelaine (Mar 2012)
- Vertical Tasting of Château Trotanoy (Mar 2012)
- Vertical Tasting of Chateau Giscours (Jan 2012)
- Vertical Tasting of Chateau Lynch-Bages (Jan 2012)
- Vertical Tasting of Chateau du Tertre (Jan 2012)
2011
2010
2002