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The Conseil des Grands Crus Classés en 1855 represents all the Châteaux of the worldwide renowned classification which has been established for the world exhibition in Paris in 1855. It is a great chance to taste most of the wines of this illustrious circle. On May 20, 2020 the samples arrived in my office and were stored under pristine conditions to be savoured the following day. As most of the Châteaux have not been able to show their wines yet, it was a unique opportunity to get a broader picture of the vintage 2019. A few Châteaux have already sent wines before the shutdown so that I even had the option to try them a second time. This might explain some slight adjustments in tasting notes and ratings. The Covid-19 crisis is a nightmare -not only for the Primeurs- but in the same time it offered a perfect chance as well. Usually, the Primeurs would have been presented at the end of March. Now, seven to eight weeks later, the wines had more time to mature and to evolve. The samples performed very well and todays tasting confirmed a lot of quotes from producers in Bordeaux. Bruno-Eugène Borie from Château Ducru-Beaucaillou sees 2019 in a line with the excellent vintages of 2016, 2010, 2009 und 2005. Henri Lurton talks about his best vintage, along with 2016, he has ever vinified at Château Brane-Cantenac. Philippe Dhalluin from Château Mouton-Rothschild asses the vintage as rich and abundant in quality and in quantity as well. After some smaller crops they came back to an average production. Emmanuel Cruse from Château d’Issan sees that 2019 has a lot in common with 2016 yet preserving more freshness. It is a very good vintage but appearing at a very difficult time on the market. At Château Coutet in Barsac, Philippe and Aline Baly were harvesting in three passes with a total of 19 harvesting days. They judge the conditions as rather ideal: “These climatic conditions have generated a harvest whose quality is indisputably present.” The result is a vintage with great qualities. In my opinion 2019 is on a comparable quality level with 2018, however showing even more freshness. Terroir might be more important in this vintage than in 2018 but the best ones show truly great wines.
”9m 10d ago
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Sauternes had a very long hanging time in 2018 due to the dry and hot autumn which created very little botrytis. The wines ending up rich and refreshing with a sweet purity and fairly nice acidity as most managed their pH levels well, but they lack some of the complexity found in vintages with more prolonged botrytis.
”1y 9m ago
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2017 is a vintage bringing back Bordeaux to its roots, offering a very classic wine style with lower alcohol levels than in the previous years but with often excellent aromatic expression. 2015 and 2016 have surely been better vintages than last year, but based on a first impression 2017 seems to be better than 2014. The evolution will show, that 2017 is far from becoming a "forgotten vintage". Some nice surprises will be waiting for us.
”2y 9m ago
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MY TOP 10 WINES OF THE 2016
1. Château d'Arche Crème de Tête 1929 - 100 points. The quality of soil and hard work allows Château d’Arche to be ranked among the great wines of Sauternes. They received ISO 14001 certification in 2011 thanks to our efforts in intelligently controlling our impact on the environment.
In the vineyard, They reunite all of the elements necessary to harvesting grapes at their best potential :
Soil rich in gravel and silts which give the power, flavor and finesse to our wine
Vines averaging in age of 45 years old that produce highly concentrated grapes rich in sugars and flavor
The noble rot Botrytis Cinerea essential in producing sweet wines grows particularly well on our grapes composed mainly of Semillon (90%) but also Sauvignon (9%) and Muscadelle (1%).
At maturity, the grapes are harvested 100% by hand and are subject to a rigorous selection. To assure the quality of our wine, they often need to pick 4-5 times in the same rows of vines at different times in order to select the most botrytised grapes.
Then wines go through multiple stages in our cellars over a period of 18 months before being bottled and available to drink.
”4y 1m ago
“I did have quite great expectations for 2015 vintage while tasting barrel samples in two first weeks in April 2016. Mainly because I witnessed during 10 days stay in Bordeaux (28.09 - 08.10), exceptional quality of grapes, their ripeness inside and outside, and very favourable weather in September and October, which promised so much. Expectations weren't fulfilled 100% unfortunately. Anyway, 2015 has nothing to be ashamed of!”
4y 8m ago
“Bordeaux 2015 Part II / Château Margaux 2015 / 100-points / Medium deep colour. Lovely cherry, cola, herb aromas. Silky smooth beautifully balanced wine with red currant, red cherry plum flavours with graphite, espresso, chinotto notes, fine loose knit lacy slightly graphite textures and roasted coffee mocha notes. Fruit expands towards the back palate with light graphite plume at the finish. One of the great wines of the vintage and an evocative salute to Ch Margaux’s great winemaker Paul Pontallier (22nd April 1956 – 27th March 2016). 98-100 points ”
4y 10m ago
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