Today sees the publication of Antonio Galloni’s report “2019 Bordeaux: A Long, Strange Trip” on Vinous, in which he reviews the vintage, the individual appellations and the wines.
For Galloni, “there is no doubt 2019 is an outstanding vintage” but what “stands out most about the finest 2019s is their exceptional balance”.
He explains that “in tasting, the 2019s combine the textural creaminess of the 2009s with the vibrancy of the 2010s and the slightly linear construction of the 2014s. With a few exceptions, these are not huge, bombastic wines. Although the 2019s share some attributes with 2009 and 2010, they are much more finessed wines built on persistence and length more than opulence”.
Galloni also reveals that “one of the challenges in evaluating 2019 as a vintage is that a number of top châteaux did not submit samples”. He goes on to suggest that “the hardest part of tasting the 2019s at home is a loss of context […] In Pomerol, my visits are always carefully sequenced. None of that was possible this year. There was no choice but to taste the wines as they arrived”.
For Galloni, “Château Margaux is the head of the class in 2019”. He describes the wines as “tremendous” and grants Margaux, which was released earlier today, a score of 98-100.
Calon Segur and Haut Brion, released last week, were other favourites with 96-98 points.
All of Antonio Galloni’s highlights can be found in the table below. To read his full report, click here.
Looking for more?
Our Bordeaux 2019 pages contain everything you need to know about this year’s En Primeur campaign; analysis tools, critic scores, reports and more.
