There were only six wines from Pomerol in 2019 on tasting at the MW Institute’s annual Bordeaux tasting last year. Their collective quality made up for the lack of numbers. Château l’Evangile was sublime. It has wonderfully pure plummy Merlot tones and wonderful freshness. Château Clinet is as seductive as ever. It has deep, layered aromatics and a caressing palate which also retains freshness. Château Petit Village was also very impressive with fabulously glossy qualities and plenty of depth and poise. Château Vray Croix de Gay was inky and textured and reminiscent of Château Gazin [not on show]. Château Beauregard also looked good at the more affordable end of the Pomerol price ladder. Sadly the Moueix properties weren’t on show this year [Château Hosanna, Château Trotanoy or Château La Fleur-Pétrus], though they have been in past tastings.

St Emilion is a large and diverse appellation. There are the well-known limestone côtes that surround the town of St Emilion where some of the finest properties lie, then there are the clay and clay limestone soils found various areas, the gravels [most notably around the Figeac sector] and sandier soils on the lower slopes of the appellation. Then there are variations in aspect, geography and winemaking too. 2019 is an excellent vintage in St Emilion. The wines are in various stages of development however [a result, in part, of the variations above]. Some have already opened up [maybe it’s just that they never closed down]. In this bunch are Château Cheval Blanc [heavenly], Château Canon La Gaffelière [plush], Château Larcis Ducasse [textured and plummy], Clos de L’Oratoire [super flattering] and Château Figeac [a serious beauty]. Others that are closed but can be coaxed out of the glass. In this group are Château Canon, Château Grand Corbin-Despagne, Château Troplong Mondot, Château Pavie Macquin and Château Trottevieille. A few hours in a decanter would do the trick. There are others that feel firmly shut, including several that were stellar during primeurs like Château Angélus and La Mondotte. These still need time.

It will be interesting to see the 2018 and 2019 vintages in St Estèphe side by side during their evolution. I’ve previously written about the wonderful qualities of 2018 St Estèphe, but 2019 has also produced brilliant wine in the appellation and qualitatively speaking it’s a bit of a photo-finish. The top properties here are profound. They start with a spellbinding effort from Château Calon Ségur. This property has been on a roll in the past decade with significant investment and an ambitious team let by Vincent Millet. 2019 Calon currently offers up a wonderfully beguiling aromatic display and a layered and deep palate. You can drink this now to enjoy the prodigious fruit aspect almost [though it has the balance to age]. Château Cos d’Estournel offers up a creamy blackcurrant aromatics in a cool, pure style. It’s inky and tight on the palate but shows enormous potential. Château Montrose was extremely backward on the day of tasting but there is super concentration here and evident depth, but the wine has most certainly crept into its shell. It needs five years at least, though it appears to have the structure to last a century!

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.