I don’t mean to stick the boot in to 2021. It’s always a bit glib to cast off an entire vintage, especially given the effort the vignerons make year in, year out. The real problem for the 2021 reds is that they sit amid a sea of much better Bordeaux at comparable prices. Unless you find 2021s priced well below better recent vintages [2022, 2019 & 2018], 2021 is not a terribly appealing purchase right now for the reds. It is also a heterogeneous vintage. As I said in my earlier post, quite a few of the red wines tasted at the MW Institute’s Annual Bordeaux tasting in November 2025 finished a bit short, often showing some rusticity to the tannins. While there are many genuine successes, there are also quite a few misfires. A number also seem to have retreated in bottle too, shutting down such that the fruit has dipped and the structure remains exposed, with noticeable acidity and tannin on the palate.

2019 is a wonderful vintage in Pauillac. Whilst Château Latour, Château Mouton Rothschild and Château Grand Puy Lacoste were missing from the MW Institutes line-up, the range included most of the other top properties. Château Lafite Rothschild was sublime. It had terrific purity, precise blackcurrant fruit profiles and wonderful balance. This quality was also mirrored in two epic wines from the Pichons. If Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande fractionally topped Château Pichon Baron in early primeurs tastings, then maybe Baron is now fractionally head by a whisker, but that is more to do with how they are currently drinking. Both are show-stoppers, and both must surely rank amongst the very top wines of the vintage. Château Lynch-Bages is full-throttle but currently a lot rawer and needs another three of four years [it will age well for decades]. Château Duhart Milon has made classic Pauillac along with Château Batailley, and Château Clerc-Milon looks to be one of the best wines here in the last decade. It has great purity and balance.

Bordeaux 2019, released in the height of the pandemic in June 2020, was perhaps the last sensibly priced vintage from the region. The quality also seemed great. Early on for me it had the poise of the 2016 combined with the richness and flamboyance of the 2009 with greater freshness. There were scores of impressive wines across all appellations, red and white [and sweet]. With the price hikes here with the exceptional 2022s, the 2019 vintage still appears pretty good value. What’s more the wines are drinking well. In October 2023 the MW Institute put on its annual tasting of ninety top wines and very few seem to have shut down [which isn’t the case with 2018s which have crept into their shells]. The quality too has held up in bottle and the vintage seems to have genuinely delivered on its primeurs promise. So, all in all, what’s not to like about this vintage?

Now returning to my 2018 MW Institute tasting notes from a while back. Cabernet Sauvignon arguably reaches its apogee in the Pauillac appellation. There were two great efforts [from the Pichons] in 2018 here, however I feel that overall the wines here are fractionally less consistent than in 2016 and 2019. Château Pichon Baron has produced a thrilling wine, which has great power and depth. Château Pichon Lalande has more delicacy but is nevertheless its equal. Behind these was a strong effort from Château Pontet Canet, a property that has been on a biodynamic footing for at least a decade now. Though some recent vintages have had a few critics complaining about Pauillac typicity here, this 2018 Pontet Canet is full of finesse and classicism. I’m a great fan of Château Grand Puy Lacoste and the 2018 is forward and attractive, though way off their fabulous 2016. Château Lynch Bages is big and bold. It is for the long haul but you get a lot of bang for your bucks here and I expect that to improve a lot in bottle. It needs a decade.