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.

The MW Institute usually has a good spread of wines from Margaux on show at its annual Bordeaux event. Seventeen 2019s were on tasting and generally impressed. While this appellation is quite large and covers varied terroirs, the qualitative heterogeneity of the appellation has lessened in the past decade. Gentler approaches in the cellar and better understanding in the vineyard and a move to earlier picking have all contributed to this improvement. There is greater emphasis on the purity of fruit and freshness, and it is evident in the wines in 2019. Undoubtedly Château Margaux has produced one of the wines of the vintage. It is already spellbinding in its aromatics and in its balance. Phenomenal. The line-up was sadly sans Château Palmer and the next best contender, and really not that far off the pace of Château Margaux, was Château Rauzan Ségla. Initially this was less forthcoming in the glass but it opened up wonderfully. Excellent wines has been made once again at Château Brane Cantenac. This property is supremely consistent and their 2019 ranks alongside super efforts here in 2016 and 2018. Château Giscours has put together, for me, its best ever recent wine. It is a beauty with terrific purity. Just behind these are very good wines from Château Cantenac Brown [showing increased finesse over previous vintages], Château d’Issan [full of promise but backward], Château Kirwan, Château Lascombes [full and lush as usual] and a fresh and vigorous Château Durfort-Vivens.

Amongst the star wines from Pessac Léognan on show at the MW Institute last autumn, the quality of Château Haut-Brion and Château La Mission Haut-Brion should come as no surprise. Both were still pretty backward and need another decade to open up but there was fantastic depth and weight to both. La Mission was fractionally more open, with mouth-watering fruit and freshness. It was forthcoming on the nose with plenty of blackcurrant fruit, plums and spices. Haut-Brion had a significant frame and density but this remains pretty closed. Château Haut-Bailly tasted in between these two really impressed. This is qualitatively almost equal to the two Pessac siblings in this vintage. It has terrific freshness and life but plenty of depth. Give it time in a decanter and you can enjoy this already, but it has two or three decades ahead of it. Across the Pessac-Léognan lineup it was Château Smith Haut Lafitte that stole the show on the day. This property shows great consistency, year in, year out. The 2019 here is super impressive. Plush blackcurrants and plums dominate a sumptuous aromatic profile but the palate maintains freshness alongside layers of fruit and the ripest of tannins. It’s magnificent.

I love Château Latour. It has to be one of the most remarkable wines in the world. It is the gold standard to which other ambitious producers of [predominantly] Cabernet Sauvignon all aspire to emulate, if not in style, certainly in substance. That legendary California winemaker Paul Draper spoke frequently of Latour when working on Ridge’s own super Cab, Ridge Monte Bello in the ‘70s and ‘80s, as the Bordeaux he most admired and took inspiration from. The no expense spared approach, financed by billionaire entrepreneur François Pinault, is beyond the pockets of many producers, of course. The same affordability question is true of the grand vin itself. A single bottle of Latour, even in an average year, is still typically more expensive than a top-label washer dryer or fridge freezer. Remarkably, there are even more expensive Cabernets in the world than Latour, but rarely any better. I’ve pulled together notes taken over the last two years at the property – a baker’s dozen of wines from the estate, spanning a number of vintages between 2018-2006.