Bordeaux Confidential 2020: Personal, professional, exclusive

We’ve just wrapped up an incredible six days of Bordeaux masterclasses in James Suckling Wine Central.

Some 450 members of the wine trade and several dozen consumers were among the first this year to taste a full range of Bordeaux 2019 barrel samples, as well as other vintages from 67 top Bordeaux wineries.

“Thanks for hosting a tremendous Bordeaux Confidential 2019 for our team and some of our top corporate partners,” said one CEO of a top Hong Kong wine merchant. “I thought the format worked exceptionally well. We’ve discussed 2019 before and agree it has a lot to offer.” And this sentiment was repeated throughout the week. Bordeaux Confidential was the first time wine trade were able to access tastings this year at such scale, and with such a comprehensive selection of Bordeaux 2019 samples available.

Wines were flown in direct from Bordeaux to Hong Kong and arrived in top condition thanks to the temperature-controlled air freight and the zero taxation on wine here. This ensured the quality and freshness of the wines. We hired a special team of trained sommeliers to pour the wines being showcased, ensuring each attendee and every wine was given their time in the spotlight. And James was present each day to give insights into the vintages. This is a new format of tasting that we’ll be repeating in the future: personal, professional and exclusive.

Given the difficult conditions around the world for conducting tastings such as these at the moment, we are delighted to have been able to execute such a popular tasting week, that also abided by all health and hygiene regulations. Attendees sat at individual tables at least 1.5 meters from any other table, and our sommeliers then personally tended to each attendee. Wines were kept in our special coolers to ensure correct temperatures were maintained, and were sealed between pours to ensure quality and to avoid oxygenation.

Everyone also received a designed Bordeaux En Primeurs guidebook, with profiles, wines and their scores of all attending wineries. You can see and download the booklet here.

The masterclasses came just after James had tasted and rated more than 1,000 Bordeaux en primeur wines. Read the full report and see all the wines and scores here: www.jamessuckling.com/wine-tasting-reports/bordeaux-2019-scores-notes-part-2/

All this ensured each tasting session was a huge success. 

Watch this space for the next event!

LIST OF PARTICIPATING CHATEAUX

Click here for the full list of wines available to taste.

Château Bastor-Lamontagne, Chateau Batailley, Château Belgrave, Château Bellefont-Belcier, Château Beychevelle, Château Branas Grand Poujeaux, Château Cantemerle, Château Cantenac-Brown, Château Cantin, Château Clerc Milon, Château Croix de Labrie, Château d’Armailhac, Château d’Issan, Château Dalem, Château Dauzac, Château De Carles, Château de Ferrand, Château de la Huste, Château de Lamarque, Château du Tertre, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, Château Faugères, Château Ferrande, Château Fombrauge, Château Fourcas-Hosten, Château Giscours, Château Grand Barrail Lamarzelle Figeac, Château Grand Corbin, Château Guiraud, Château Haut-Brisson, Château La Dominique, Château La Garde, Château La Patache, Château La Tour Carnet, Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey, Château Lafon-Rochet, Château Laroque,  Château Larrivaux, Château Lascombes, Château Le Boscq, Château Magrez Fombrauge, Château Maillet, Château Malartic-Lagraviere, Château Marquis de Terme, Château Martinet, Château Mouton Rothschild, Château Montlabert, Château Nenin, Château Pape Clément, Château Peby-Faugères, Château Pedesclaux, Château Phélan-Ségur, Château Pichon Baron, Château Prieuré-Lichine, Château Rocheyron, Château St. Pierre Pomerol, Château Suduiraut, Château Tour Saint Christophe, Château Trottevieille, Château Villemaurine, Clos Beauregard, Clos de Sarpe, Clos du Marquis, Clos Dubreuil, Clos Haut-Peyraguey, Couvent des Jacobins, Domaine de Chevalier