“2016 vs 2015 Bordeaux: Which is better?” – James Suckling
Following the release of Lisa Perotti-Brown MW, Antonio Galloni and Neal Martin’s Bordeaux 2016 in-bottle scores, James Suckling’s tasting report “2016 Bordeaux: A vintage for today’s Bordeaux wine lovers” was published this morning.
Throughout the report, Suckling draws a parallel between the newest vintage on the market and the “superb 2015”. He affirms that “Bordeaux is showing great quality in the bottle once again with many outstanding 2016s” and that “2016 is one of the best vintages since 2010.” Compared to other vintages, Suckling says that he “would rate it ahead of 2000 and 2003, as well as every vintage in the 1990s except 1990 itself. The only modern vintages that rate better are 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2015 – the latter only by a hair.”
Suckling awarded eight wines the ultimate 100 points, compared to five for Martin. Both critics, however, found perfection in Cos d’Estournel and Mouton Rothschild. In his tasting notes, Suckling described Cos d’Estournel, which has already seen a flurry of trade on Liv-ex, as “extravagant” and “magical”, and said that Mouton Rothschild 2016 was “one of the most powerful Moutons ever for me.”
Other wines that took his fancy were Le Pin – “very direct and superb”, and Leoville Las Cases, which he noted was “probably better” than “the 1986, which was a legend”.
Overall, Suckling concludes: “I want to buy a number of wines in 2016 just like I did in 2015. And I recommend you do the same if you love excellent Bordeaux. The two vintages produced wines that are incomparable to other reds made in the world. And the wonderful balance, intensity and clarity of the wines are so, so Bordeaux today.”
You can read James Suckling’s full report here.
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