Bordeaux 2019: A Whirlwind Campaign
This year’s Bordeaux En Primeur tastings happened a little closer to home…
All the chips were stacked against Bordeaux being able to pull off an En Primeur campaign. If prices were less than astounding or the quality not among the region’s top vintages, there would have been no chance to even get off the starting block. After all, in the age of a pandemic, tariffs, and a recession, who has time for wine futures? All of that doesn’t even take into account that, as the first offers landed, no one had tasted or reviewed the wines. With every obstacle you can imagine in front of them, Bordeaux barreled ahead anyway, and we were left wondering if it was even worth it to engage with the wines at any level. Then Pontet-Canet got a potential 100-point review from Wine Advocate, dropped their price by 30%, and all hell broke loose.
Following Pontet Canet’s lead, the campaign was a whirlwind. Properties realized they had something to build on. A 30% decrease from 2018 pricing became the standard. Samples were hurriedly shipped worldwide to those that weren’t able to travel to Bordeaux this year. In the end, some properties didn’t lower their prices enough, and the market was quick to ignore them. But when First Growths like Mouton, Haut Brion, and Margaux snuck under the $400 range, they sold out in hours. Many top classified growths were well under the $100 mark for the first time in years, delivering a caliber of wine that would cost multiples in Napa. But the heart of the campaign was wines like Phélan-Ségur, Malescot-St-Exupery, and Branaire-Ducru: long-time Left Bank stalwarts that came in well under $50 and notched multiple high-90s scores.
At one point, Antonio Galloni of Vinous mused that this could potentially be an “opportunity of a lifetime” for Bordeaux. While many have used that as the platform to celebrate the quality of the campaign, it was actually a critique on pricing. 2019s could provide a way for Bordeaux to engage with new buyers if the prices were really good. At the heart of it, En Primeur is all about speculation and providing a one-time opportunity to secure wines at prices that will not be available down the road. It rewards savvy buyers for committing to wines years before arrival, and oftentimes another set of years until they’re ready to drink.
But while the speculative value is one thing, Bordeaux also has a need to draw in a new generation of wine drinkers and collectors. The region has the unparalleled ability to produce high-quality wines in significant volumes, the likes of which you won’t see elsewhere. But, as the amount of disposable income of the average wine drinker decreases, classified growths quickly become less accessible than they were for the previous generation that built cellars full of them. However: if you can provide pricing that compels wine lovers to participate in a campaign, they might experience the life cycle of a wine in a unique way; one that ties them to the region and vintage. This knowledge and experience helps consumers develop deep roots over the years.
Where does 2019 fall within this? I would argue that it’s the most compelling campaign since the 2009s. I’m not saying that it is the best vintage in that range. The 2016s or 2010s might take that title. But both were very expensive on release and have largely stayed within range of their first-tranche prices on arrival. There also was some terrific values in 2014 and 2015 for early buyers, but neither hit the heights of other surrounding vintages. It is instead the most compelling campaign since the 2009s were released, providing a ton of value across the board and some of the most compelling upside that the region has seen in a while. If the quality in bottle ends up matching what early samples are hinting at, we might very well look back at this as a landmark campaign.
The vintage itself speaks stylistically to the current iteration of “modern” Bordeaux—the wines show incredible refinement, sense of place, and show more polish than the highly extracted (but incredibly delicious) wines of a decade ago. It was a warm vintage (again), but where 2018 was pressured by more early season extremes, there was an easier and less eventful nature to 2019. A few heat spikes led to concerns about a riper style of wine, but some late season rains alongside of meticulous management in the vineyard and cellar lead to wines with great purity and aromatics. If the heat showed up anywhere, it was in the alcohol levels, which are a bit higher that previous vintages, even if the wines have the substance to support them. Insofar as appellations, the northern reaches of the Left Bank seem to have found favor, but the fact is that all communes produced some special wines in 2019.
Another thing to note was that 2019 was a blink-and-you’ll-miss it style campaign. Most years, the Bordelais will slowly release wines over an eight-week period. This year, everything was released in half the time. And although production levels were up (more so on the Left Bank than the Right Bank), most properties only put a small fraction of their production into the marketplace. The result was a flurry of limited allocations with some quick-selling wines. That said, there’s still lots of wine at the properties. Although many gems sold out quickly, these are wines that we’ll look to revisit again when in bottle, and very well might be great opportunities (even at higher prices).
Here’s Clyde on a few 2019 value wines to buy when they are bottled: La Tour de By and K&L go back to the late 70s-early 1980s, when we used to buy the wine from Eddie "Handcart" Lefcourt. The property was a bargain then and it is now. Plenty of strength here in the '19 with fine midpalate fruit and tannins at the back. An old-school wine that reminds me of the 1970. Their reserve wine, we just started stocking (as of July 2016).
The black label Marc Pages is more New World on the palate with plenty of sweet oak and fruit with some tannins at the back.
The Roque is a separate property next to La Tour de By: north of St-Estephe. This is and will be a great buy when it arrives. Plenty of red rose aromas and flavor.
So, the question is: did Bordeaux get it right? All indications are that they have a terrific vintage on their hands and prices were, with a few exceptions, good-to-great. The properties also impressed many critics and retailers by delivering representative samples across the world during the pandemic. And while it would have been nice to have waited a bit to launch the campaign, there is an economy to the machinery of Bordeaux that requires the wheel to keep turning. The limited allocations will certainly turn off some potential buyers, but on the whole, it was about as good as it could have been considering the extreme circumstances.
For those who are looking to secure some of the highlights of the vintage, here are some of the best opportunities that are still available at first-tranche pricing. Please note that, as with all of our 2019 Bordeaux Futures, that pricing is listed without any tariffs. If there are applicable tariffs when the wines are to be delivered in 2022, we will give you the option to pay the tariffs, or cancel the order without penalty.
2019 Léoville-Barton ($74.99) – name any other vintage of Léoville-Barton of this caliber, and I will show you a price that’s at least $50 more. We loved the sample we got and bought big. Some late reviews (JD97-99+, WE97-99) that came in weeks after the wine was released give it sneaky-good potential, even if it didn’t initially take off.
2019 Lynch-Bages ($96.99) – this fan-favorite looks to be a classic, with all the quintessential Pauillac calling cards that make it so cherished in the first place. Jeb Dunnuck calls it a 50-60 year wine, while Galloni calls it “pure magic.” Not bad at for one of the world’s most collected labels at under $100.
2019 Montrose ($139.99) – it might sound a bit blasphemous to say that a property with such an illustrious history is doing better than ever, but those who have tasted the last few vintages of Montrose are putting the current wines a notch above even their all-timers. The only reason this is still available at this pricing is because the Chateau did not send samples abroad. When the time comes, the triple-digit scores seem almost inevitable.
2019 Rauzan-Ségla ($84.99) – speaking of not sending samples, 2018’s most coveted allocation is relatively available as they haven’t been scored by major US publications. Combine the incredible heights we saw in Margaux and a property that is getting better by the year and there is little doubt that Rauzan-Ségla is all upside going forwards.
2019 Beau-Séjour-Becot ($59.99) – this St-Emilion gem borrows from the above two examples in that it is another ascendant property that was a quick sell out in 2018 and didn’t send out samples. Sourced from vineyards at the heart of the Right Bank hamlet, this historic property is producing wines of tremendous balance and refinement, purity, and texture. There’s tons of promise at Beau-Séjour-Becot, and it has all the signs of the next must-have collectible going forward.
2019 Phélan-Ségur ($39.99) – where else in the world can you find a potential 97-point Bordeaux-varietal blend with this kind of history and pedigree for under $40? Even if you take out James Suckling’s “best ever” score, you’re looking at consensus acclaim from Neal Martin, Galloni, Dunnuck, Jane Anson, and more. As Martin says, it is “quintessentially St-Estephe” and “should not be under-estimated.”
2019 Smith-Haut-Lafitte ($94.99) – Martin’s 96-98 point score was not only one of his highest ratings for the property, but was singled out as his “jewel in the crown” pick for Pessac among some very tough competition. It is easy to see why, as this over-delivering estate is firing on all cylinders, making one transcendent wine after another.
- Ryan Moses