2019 bordeaux

Okay, so I can’t find a 2019 bordeaux thread. Even though it is probably buried deep in the ocean of topics I have very little interest in, I feel a new thread is in order.

For the bordeaux Nuts, which I have been since the release of the 2000 vintage, I’d like to talk about 2019 buying… what are you obsessing over, have recently purchased, tasted , or want to discuss.

Right now, I am waiting… lurking … ready to pounce on some good deals. I am hoping this spring we will see some negotiants and retailers who want to deal. I am also hoping we can share these tips with each other.

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I’m sure there was a whole thread on this last year when the EP campaign was in full swing. I’ve completed all my 2019 purchases now, just waiting for them to show up

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I bought a few cases of futures, against what my actuarial tables show, because the opening tranche prices were so good. This was in June/July 2020. No regrets based on the prices and the subsequent ratings.

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This week- Bassins in DC had MSE for 50 bucks a bottle and had a cart full of them with some 2019 burgs (I know, gross), and wanted to read up on a burg review in the morning before buying. Needless to say, all the malescot were bought up overnight and I ended up buying some Lacris- Ducasse 2019 instead… I think 70 a bottle

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I bought a little over 12 cases of ‘19 EP, many in half bottles. My first real foray into EP since the ‘09 vintage; prices got so crazy with the 2010 campaign that I sat out in disgust, and started buying back vintages from ‘82 to ‘00. When a top chateau’s wine in barrel cost more than the same wine from a great vintage that is approaching maturity…well that just didn’t make sense to me. That position flipped briefly with 2019 EP.

In bottle reviews should start coming out soon; Jane Anson (formerly of Decanter) has released her left bank reviews this week, with right bank reviews soon to follow. Her in bottle reports have been encouraging, and I’m quite happy with the purchases I’ve made. Hope I’m still around to enjoy them in the 20 or so years it will take for them to reach maturity; the half bottles should help!

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I told myself 2015 was my last futures vintage for Bordeaux, but given the pricing and vintage reputation I had to go for a few boxes of 2019s.

That said, I only bought four wines and focused on things I either have a really strong history with or thought would fare especially well based on the information I had to go on. The low chateau count is also driven by a number of old favorites starting to find their way into the bigger/more extracted side of the spectrum. Not necessarily wines that are going to age poorly, but which are not delivering what I like in a great Bordeaux.

And so my shopping list was Mouton, Palmer, Montrose and Le Pin.

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Nice selection! Mouton at $400 a btl was hard to pass on, i picked up 2 full cases and 3 mags, along w a ton of other stuff and 10 cases of half bottles

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The EP thread was here fyi, but no matter :slight_smile:

Can anyone point me towards in bottle reviews? They are surprisingly few and far between when googling. Thanks.

Paul @bbott wrote:
Can anyone point me towards in bottle reviews? They are surprisingly few and far between when googling. Thanks.

Not reviews, but here are some scores from bordOverview. Most appear to be samples versus in-bottle reviews.

https://www.bordoverview.com/

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I’ll be tasting them next month!

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Farr has started putting up 2019 in bottle reviews on their site. It’s a bit spotty at this point.

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Before the 2019 primeur campaign, the last time the Bordelais reduced prices was 2008. Decent but not great reviews (apart from Gilman) they were cheap, and hard to sell. Chinese and other Far Eastern buyers entered the market, and they became scarcer and much more expensive.

They also got burnt when they reduced prices so drastically with the 2019 vintage. The early releases were low enough to encourage buying, so later releases came in far closer to 2018 pricing. My point from that long preamble, is that the Bordelais are unlikely to ever go down in price again for a great vintage.

There are still a few wines left over at close to the original release price, and if you have any spare cash, you should be buying the likes of Montrose and Palmer. With prices poised for an increase after a short crop of the 2021s, which I understand to be a tough vintage, backfilling makes perfect sense.

Parker gave the 2008 vintage a good review. From his barrel tasting report: “It did not take me long to realize that the 2008 vintage was dramatically better than I had expected [from reports on the vintage he had heard]. It had all the qualities that make an excellent and in some cases, a great vintage so special: exceptionally dark opaque colors, gorgeously ripe fruit, stunning purity almost across the board, great freshness (because it was a cool year), slightly higher acids than normal, and remarkable density as well as concentration.” Of course, his 2008 review was soon ignored by his report from the 2009 barrel tastings, but it’s misleading to cite Gilman as some sort of lone wolf.

I bought a 6 pack each of Cheval Blanc and Lafite. I couldn’t pass at these prices. I will buy another mixed case of non grand cru wines. I’m really trying to reduce my purchasing.

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He did give it a good review but not a great one. Gilman preferred it to 2009 and 2010 as being a much more classic vintage. Good reviews do not sell Bordeaux (e.g. 2017).

Haven’t seen any pro reviews, but Andy Sc and his fellow Swiss have posted some reviews from a Zurich tasting on CT:

https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=47610
https://www.cellartracker.com/event.asp?iEvent=47693

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I am about to jump back in the thick of things tasting between 700-800 wines from 2019 Bordeaux. So far, we have tasted about 150 wines. The rest are here calling my name. You can see barrel tasting notes for 700 wines here. Complete 2019 Bordeaux Wine Guide to the Best 700 Wines Tasted/Rated

There are a lot of really good 2019 Bordeaux priced for Covid, not for the quality. So if this is your thing, and you have the money, you should take advantage of it.

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I bought 4 dozen Jeff, some of which have mysteriously jumped in alcohol content between samples and bottles. The blends must therefore be different, hence the interest in the final result.

Left Bank blends do not generally change, (except for press wine sometimes) they are, for the most part, blended in January. Though some final blends can exclude certain vats, which could alter things slightly. Most Right Bank estates blend much later. What wines jumped in alcohol?

Because these are all tasted at home for me, I do not see that many tasting sheets, only the wines that were tasted over Zoom.

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