2019 Bordeaux

2019, a vintage I still haven’t really come to terms with as it was to be shown as Covid striked, meaning no one really knew what was happening. At first I refused many samples for primeur as I thought I would be able to go in June. Alas that didn’t happen and I eventually gave in to get samples, and even if I tasted quite a few, many did not want to sent fragile samples during summer temperatures. Understandably. 

Then when the vintage was in bottle, I had already had a few fights with customs and found that I wouldn’t really want to spend all that time and hazel getting samples from each and every one, sent one by one. So which ever didn’t want to send through one of the bigger shipments, I would just have to overlook. The paperwork in Norway is just overwhelming. 

So I do not really have a feel yet of 2019. Some 350 bottles was sen, half of what I received of 2018 in bottle. 2019 remains elusive and the first vintage of the last probably 20 years I feel I do not really know. Some wines was tasted as barrel samples but not in bottle, some from bottle but not as barrel samples, some I haven’t even tasted at all. 

It is a vintage I have to guess at, like halfway in a football game you should guess the outcome. And yes, people do that, but it is a betting game. Meaning, I do not really know what I shall tell you. 

2019 was a warm vintage, but had cooler nights than 2018. But that is the reference I hear from many producers. Mind you, 2018 was the warmest vintage since 1947. Forget 2003. That vintage is different due to other elements. But if you read wine history, especially Bordeaux, several 1947’s, maybe especially the icon itself, Cheval Blanc, was described as a Port wine for decades. And that sweetness and richness is true of many 2018’s. Are they Bordeaux typical? Maybe not. It is a once every 70 years sort of thing. 

So how about 2019? Well, from my checkered experience with this vintage, it has similarities with 2018. Some are massive, sweet and big, albeit, some are also very classical, bright and pure. As are some 2018’s. Depending on the style you love, you have to look for and read up on the wines to buy as some will be classics and some will be sweet, alcoholic and massive. And quite different in style and energy. 

A lot of critics and consumers hail these two vintages as fantastic, but style wise, the differences inside each vintage is wast between different chateaux. If you are to buy the wines in a style you love and like, you actually have to open the bottle and try it before you fill your cellar with cases. Rarely has there been such a difference between the classic expression and the very ripe expressions as in these two vintages. 

Mind you, I still have lots of 2019’s left to taste. But that is my feeling.