Bordeaux 2021

I just received a fascinating e mail from Jean Marc Quarin, who has just finished tasting 200 samples. I am not sure I can legally copy it, but I can give you a few of his insights. As one of the most thoughtful commentators, it seems good starting point.

It is a short crop.
It is much better than he would have expected given the weather. He attributes this to a tremendous amount of work at the estates. Even so, there seems to have been a struggle for ripeness, and there was a need to push extraction.
It is heterogenous.
Many chateaux used either or both chapitalization and some form of concentration either bleeding or reverse osmosis, which reduced an already small crop. Some may have added 2020 (15% is legal) others may use 2022.
It is a Cabernet vintage, with many chateaux using larger amounts of Cabernets than is usual in their blend.

My apologies if I have got anything wrong. I used a translator, and my own semi pidgin French.

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I had no idea you could add other vintages.

Going to have to be very selective this vintage

He also mentioned that it could be a very strong vintage for whites (he wrote that white Haut Brion is one of the best ever). That could be interesting. Iā€˜m a fan of white Bordeaux but I rarely buy them due to premox which is a big problem in the area.

William Kelley, it would be great if you could add some information on the closures of the whites (using diam or not) in your white Bdx notes.

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There are still plenty of 2014-2020 wines in the market. If the prices are as high for ā€˜21 as some have suggested, I would be looking at some of these leftovers.

Are they really expected to have high EP pricing. Given the relatively weak vintage?

Depends on oneā€™s definition of ā€œhighā€. In very general terms, I am willing to bet that even if this vintage/individual wines are not as good as (and even MATERIALLY weaker than) 2019/their counterparts from 2019, that prices will be higher than 2019 release prices. They would rather overshoot and miss and let some ā€œpigeonā€ be stuck with the wines or dump/sell them to airlines/supermarkets than underprice, especially because the price also sets a new baseline for the next vintage. Pricing for the 2019 vintage had the benefit of tremendous uncertainty due to Covid and those days are long gone. The comparison will be to 2020 which was significantly more expensive.

Greetings from Bordeaux!!!

Some of that is widely known. After tasting almost every Left Bank wine and some right banks, there are a few points ā€¦

2021 should be a Berserker AWFE friendly vintage. The wine are low in alcohol, Left Bank averages 12.9 - 13, not overly dense, most are red fruited, with soft tannins allowing them to be enjoyed young. Blends have more can than usual. Yields are low.

Most wines have ripeness, just not a lot of richness. A few producers that overpacked or over extracted have dry wines. Else theyā€™re simply nice, soft, fresh wines.

This comes from someone that actually tasted the wines:

As for prices, nobody knows. Yes producers want the most they can get, and the market wants to pay less. But anyone who says they know is full of BS!

Iā€™m having an espresso in Saint Emilion enjoying the sunny morning ā€¦.

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Jeff, sorry to be snarky, but I was posting a prƩcis of Jean Marc Quarin who is most assuredly in Bordeaux.

As for pricing, nobody is claiming to know how the Bordelais are going to price, but the people here are talking about the consequences for them at each level. But just as you try and get information from them, they are trying to get some insights from you, and more importantly, the merchants. However, they will of course then go away and ignore it.

I am very envious of you having coffee in Saint Emilion, and wish I was there.

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Bordeaux has had excellent vintages in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2020. How are they going to raise prices on 2021s when the vintage has generally gotten poorer reviews? Who will buy the wines?

Because AWFE love nothing more than wines that have been chaptalized and artificially concentrated using reverse osmosis? Maybe because producers are diluting vintage character by adding some 2020 and 2022? Wow, you really donā€™t understand AWFE wine drinkers do you.

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Also envious, but I will be there in about 2 weeksā€¦.for the very first timeā€¦.on a tour with the Intā€™l Wine and Food Society. Just after EP week. Hitting some top estates and I am looking forward to itā€¦.including the morning coffeeā€¦.and wondering what vintage wines we will be served!

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I was in Bordeaux the first week of April and tasted some of the 2021 but clearly not as many as Jeff. During several restaurant meals we ordered 2014s which were open for business. Unless major price cuts for 2021, I would buy 2014s for near term drinking while waiting for other bigger vintages to mature.

2014 may be the ultimate AFWE Bordeaux vintage, beautiful well made wines in a less opulent style.

The other wrinkle I might mention is that the chateaux do not need to price the wines to sell en primeur. The negociants will always buy top hundred or so wines or lose their allocation. The fact that they will not be able to sell it through to the end user will not cause the chateaux any stress. The last time you saw any real pushback was in the aftermath of the 2008s, but since then I gather there has been little or no problems even with the 2011-2013s. And of course, the 2019s have been quite profitable for the merchants. And 2021 is a small crop.

Lots of factors, but in the end I know I am almost certainly not a buyer.

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You will get that, and a lot more.

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As usual, this will be my very own personal and pixelated opinion which any reasonable person is free to ignoreā€¦

I do find the wines extremely drink and likeable and they will most likely make for very long agingā€¦ at the very top endā€¦ where it seems certainly better than expected. Lower end, hmmm. I will be utterly surprised if any wine ever gets to 95 points on my personal scale. My best wine so far would have to be Chateau Margaux possibly coming in at a solid 94 if all goes well. I will enjoy these wines very much in the future. But itā€™s not a vintage for point chasing.

This vintage really lets you see what amazing peaks the last few years have been hitting.

To me it is actually quite homogenous. There is a tendency for sameness in the wines. Same texture, same length, same taste. And pretty much along the lines of established hierarchy. Punching above your weight will be a tough ask in 2021.

Now, as I think Jeff is on to something, I will have a 100 point espresso.


Mr Margaux:
Margaux.jpg

Soā€¦ are we talking more like 2013 or more like 2017? I actually quite like many 2017s; the main problem being price is not great. Iā€™ve not had a single 2013 worth the time though (granted, small sample size).

My understand is there is a lot less wine to go around, so even if they keep the prices similar with significantly less wine for the market I doubt they will cut the prices like in 2019. Would be nice if it was a white vintage, just SML Blanc keeps jumping every vintage. I certainly wonā€™t buy any reds, especially with the risk of them adding another vintage, but that is just me.

Didnā€™t they try this with 1972s?

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Daughter #2ā€™s birth year so Iā€™m in for a least a few top wines. Hopefully they can make it 18 years or so.

The estates that ramped up the Cabernet and diligently sorted made nice wine. There should be no doubt about that.

The white wines are just great!

This should be a perfect, high-quality AWFE vintage. Low alcohol, freshness and early drinking.

I think a few whites are already out. 21 Clos des Lunes is for sale. Yields are maybe 1/2 of normal, or something like that ā€¦

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