Critics have rated the Bordeaux 2019 vintage as the highest scoring modern vintage and probably the ‘best ever tasted’.
First launched in 1982 by Clive Coates MW and Simon Loftus, the ‘Two Years On’ blind tasting of the Bordeaux vintage that has been in-bottle for two years and currently three years after its En primeur tasting, recently swung its focus on 2019. The event was renamed after the location of Clive Coates' Suffolk home, Southwold, where he hosted the inaugural event.
The twenty-strong Southwold tasting panel includes renowned critics Jancis Robinson MW, Neal Martin and Lisa Perotti-Brown MW, with a total of ten Masters of Wine present and other wine journalists and top merchants. They spent three days blind tasting over 300 of the region’s top chateaux’s 2019 wines.
Bordeaux 2019 – the first Covid Vintage
2019 would always have been an unforgettable vintage as Covid hit and broke the usual system of the Chateaux hosting the En Primeur Tastings in Bordeaux in April. In 2020 Europe was locked down and the trade’s annual pilgrimage to the region could not go ahead. Samples were shipped to key critics and qualitatively 2019 was rated another highly promising vintage consecutively after 2018, and, as we came to see, the middle of a hugely significant and rare triumvirate of strong vintages when 2020 was released the following year.
The Chateaux surprised and delighted the market with 2019 release prices discounted by around twenty per cent on the 2018 vintage, and in some cases over thirty per cent. Despite the pandemic the 2019 En Primeurs campaign was a huge success with allocations sold out.
Three years on, the critics at the Southwold Tasting have determined that 2019 is more than living up to the promise indicated at the first tastings. Jancis Robinson stated in her coverage of the event that “the vintage is looking very good indeed, perhaps the best I have ever tasted at this stage.”
Is Bordeaux 2019 – a great vintage for investors?
After three ‘gruelling days’, the consensus was that the vintage may be the best ever tasted by the Southwold gathering. In their view 2019 exceeds 2018, 2015, 2010, 2009 and 2000 on average, except for the peaks of 2010 and 2009 which are equal to 2019. Interestingly, but not surprising, 2016 compares more positively as a classically great vintage which will likely need more aging than the ‘fleshier’ 2019s.
The Southwold Tastings' Top Bordeaux 2019 wines
Appellation | Top 2019 wine | Second 2019 wine | Third 2019 wine |
St Emilion | Cheval Blanc | Ausone | Figeac |
Pomerol | Vieux Chateau Certan | Petrus | Lafleur / Eglise Clinet |
Pessac Leognan | Haut Brion | La Mission Haut Brion | Domaine de Chevalier |
Margaux | Margaux | Palmer | Rauzan Segla |
St Julien | Leoville Barton | Leoville Poyferre | Gloria |
Pauillac | Latour | Lafite Rothschild | Mouton Rothschild |
St Estephe | Montrose | Cos d’Estournel | Calon Segur |
Sauternes | Yquem |
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|
Source: Tom Parker MW, 23 January 2023
Whilst 2009 and 2010 are seen as the two greatest vintages of the first decade of this century, 2016 and 2019 are the top two of the second.
What do the top critics’ think about Bordeaux 2019?
Jancis Robinson OBE, MW is one of the world’s most highly regarded wine critics and commented on the Southwold gathering’s response during the tasting; “what was remarkable this year was how quiet we all were when tasting – silenced perhaps as the sheer quality and majesty of the vintage revealed itself.”
In her view “the top wines of the Right Bank were absolutely sensational” and “wines from Left Bank Margaux were also outstanding.”
Jancis Robinson’s top scored Bordeaux 2019 wines
2019 Wine | Score | Release price | Current price | Change |
Lafleur | 19 | £5,800 | £17,000 | 193.1% |
Mouton Rothschild | 19 | £3,588 | £5,600 | 56.1% |
Palmer | 19 | £1,998 | £2,300 | 15.1% |
Leoville Barton | 19 | £650 | £780 | 20% |
Montrose | 18.5+ | £1,200 | £1,560 | 30% |
Leoville Las Cases | 18.5+ | £1,746 | £1,944 | 11.3% |
Lafite Rothschild | 18.5 | £5,112 | £7,350 | 43.8% |
Haut Brion | 18.5 | £3,588 | £4,750 | 32.4% |
Cheval Blanc | 18.5 | £4,500 | £6,300 | 40% |
Ausone | 18.5 | £5,280 | £6,350 | 20.3% |
Vieux Chateau Certan | 18.5 | £2,210 | £2,880 | 35.8% |
Lynch Bages | 18.5 | £790 | £1,140 | 44.3% |
Pichon Baron | 18.5 | £1,188 | £1,300 | 9.4% |
Source: Liv-ex.com, Current prices (12 x 75cl) at 6th February 2023, Release prices June 2020
Our view on investing in Bordeaux 2019
Bordeaux 2019 is truly outstanding and is being compared to the great 1982. This is an important vintage for investors, which also offers the opportunity to create a very rare, outstanding vertical. The 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintages were all hotter than average and have produced wines with extremely high critical acclaim, a rare, great Trilogy.
Bordeaux is an important component of a wine investment portfolio, offering quality, iconic brand value and liquidity. The wines of this vintage provide a very valuable opportunity to add strong performance to an investment wine collection.
For more information on the latest market opportunities speak to a member of our expert team on 0203 384 2262.