Despite Covid-19 severely reducing en primeur tasting opportunities for the 2019 wines, the vintage at the time was rightly hailed as a success. Even now, ongoing restrictions have limited much of the exposure a vintage of this quality might have seen in ordinary circumstances. Fortunately, having been able to taste in situ now that the wines have been bottled, it’s certain this is an excellent and very consistent vintage with some fantastic wines, across both the Left and Right Banks, in all styles.
It comes in the middle of a trilogy, quality-wise, that most winemakers would dream of. Largely defined by their climatic conditions, 2018, 2019 and 2020 forced winemakers to navigate varying degrees of difficult or unwelcome weather episodes: mildew and rot in 2018; uneven rainfall and drought in 2019; and impactful microclimatic patterns (hail, rain and heat) in 2020. Yet each has produced a raft of top-class wines, if you know where to look.
Generally speaking, the 2019 reds seem to sit somewhere in the middle of the exuberant and plush 2018s and the structured and concentrated 2020s. In the best cases they manage the feat of providing power and density alongside elegance and class. You get acidity and juiciness balanced by precision and tension, with many displaying exceptional freshness.
They combine the understated power of 2018 and even 2016 with the attractiveness of 2015, alongside the brightness and classicism of 2017. Distinctive and impressive, 2019 joins 2010, ’15, ’16 and ’18 as one of the best vintages of the decade.
CHANGING FACE
Denne historien er fra April 2022-utgaven av Decanter.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra April 2022-utgaven av Decanter.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
A Resource for the World? - Argentina is unique in the genetic diversity preserved in much of its vine material. With climate change and disease posing increasing threats worldwide, Catena Zapata winery is asking what lessons can be learned to protect vineyards within and beyond the nation's borders
Argentina is unique in the genetic diversity preserved in much of its vine material. With climate change and disease posing increasing threats worldwide, Catena Zapata winery is asking what lessons can be learned to protect vineyards within and beyond the nation’s borders
Great Cabernets of South America
Other varieties may hog the limelight across South America, but the world’s most popular grape for red wines has played a critical role in the continent's wine heritage. We trace Cabernet Sauvignon’s story here, and recommend 16 benchmark wines to try
PROVENCE by train and bike
With rail links to Paris, Nice, Marseilles and beyond, a vast network of cycle paths and quiet roads, and a plethora of historic wine estates, Provence is an ideal destination for an eco-friendly, car-free and carefree) holiday
IN THE MIX
These days most of the world’s vineyards are planted to just a single variety, but what happens when multiple varieties are planted, harvested and blended together?
Malvasia A BUYER'S GUIDE
If ever a grape was hard to pin down, it'd be Malvasia. Indeed it’s not even a single grape variety. In all of its many varied, and often completely unrelated guises, it has been the mainstay of popular wine styles across the centuries. Our expert takes a closer look...
RIBERA ADOPTS THE NEW OLD WAYS
It’s not so much a new direction for winemakers in Ribera del Duero, but a growing recognition that traditional methods and wine styles set aside by the previous generation can now provide a way ahead to revitalise the region
Roussanne around the world
Up for a challenge? For winemakers as much as wine drinkers, getting a handle on a mercurial grape such as Roussanne isn't easy. But wherever it's grown, when the balance is right, it truly repays the effort
Napa Cabernet 2021
There's a lot of excitement about this vintage, in which conditions were relatively calm and temperatures stable through summer. Ongoing drought reduced yields but intensified flavours, but it means quantities are down and you may need to act fast to secure top wines. Our Napa correspondent selects 60 great wines from more than 500 that he tasted, with many very high scores
10 reason to discover Uruguay
Squeezed between Brazil and Argentina on the Atlantic coast, Uruguay has mostly flown under the tourist radar - until now. Once dubbed 'the Switzerland of the Americas', it's a welcoming country that has much to offer the travelling wine lover
Leo Erazo
The old vines and special terroir of Itata, southern Chile, have beena source of inspiration for this intrepid winemaker. The 2023 fires were a setback, but his commitment to this ancient wine land is undiminished
