St Julien in 2019 is a study in consistency and finesse. These have been stylish and impressive wines from the start, but are beginning to hit their stride. Nine wines were shown by the MW Institute back in late 2023. The major omissions were Château Ducru Beaucaillou and Château Léoville Las Cases [normally shown at this annual tasting]. Otherwise, all the top crus classés were represented. The wines from Château Gruaud Larose, Château Léoville Barton and Château Léoville Poyferré impressed the most, but there are excellent wines too from Château Branaire-Ducru, Château Lagrange, Château Langoa Barton, Château St Pierre and Château Talbot. On the day Château Beychevelle was lush and polished but it lacked a bit of grip and freshness compared to the others. The blend at Beychevelle is Merlot dominant, while the other St Juliens tasted were all significantly Cabernet Sauvignon dominant, which might explain this stylistic difference.

St Julien has put in a very strong performance in 2018. This is a relatively small and very consistent appellation and the terroirs here have clearly succeeded in this tricky, unusual vintage. At the very top of the quality tree are the Léovilles [in a line-up sans Ducru]. Château Léoville Las Cases is tremendous but Château Léoville Poyferré and Château Léoville Barton are close behind. Château Gruaud Larose is almost on an equal footing and has made impressive wine. Château Lagrange, Château Langoa Barton and Château Branaire-Ducru are also very impressive. Château Beychevelle shows lots of finesse and Château Talbot continues its good run of decent form. Buy any of these and you will not be disappointed.

These notes from the MW Institute Tasting back in December 2021 are long overdue on the blog. Let’s just say I’ve been a bit side tracked. My impression with a lot of top drawer crus classés 2016s tasted more recently [ie in the intervening twenty months!] is that they remain a little closed. While this isn’t true of the Haut-Médoc properties [or many in St Emilion and Pomerol which are now coming into their own], it is true of St Julien. Undoubtedly 2016 is a classic vintage in St Julien. There is great precision and depth across the board and the wines are very impressive. The picks of the tasting? Chateau Léoville Las Cases was fantastic with profound depth and structure. Not that far behind was Château Léoville Barton and Château St Pierre. I was especially impressed with efforts from Château Branaire Ducru, Château Lagrange and Château Talbot, though there was great consistency shown across all the wines. Top châteaux Ducru Beaucaillou and Léoville Poyferré weren’t shown.

It’s taken me a while to post these notes on seventy-three wines from the MW Institute’s horizontal 2016 Bordeaux tasting held at the very end of 2021. Looking back on the notes I’m reminded quite what a unique vintage this is. In a decade with at least three other contenders to greatness [2010, 2018 and 2019 – with 2015 also very good] what really impresses in 2016 is the breadth of quality across all Bordeaux’s red appellations and the balance in the wines. They have ripe fruit, juicy acidities and great textures. They are extremely moreish. There’s not the over-extraction that was more common in 2010, nor the exaggerated ripeness of some 2018s, nor the hefty alcohols you can find in the 2019s [though ’19 is a truly wonderful vintage]. Many of these ’16s are well under 14% [with exceptions in St Emilion and Pomerol]. It makes this a Bordeaux vintage to drink without fearing a blinding headache. That said many of the wines have retreated into their shells a fair bit since bottling. You will want to wait to broach wine from Pauillac, St Julien and definitely St Estèphe. Many in St Emilion and Pomerol are now starting to drink well, along with the top wines from Pessac-Léognan. Still there’s no hurry at all really as these wines are so well balanced and fresh. So, what were picks of the MW tasting?