January 2022 Tasting Report: Dueling Vintages in Bordeaux and Napa, Seductive 2018 Barolos and Germany’s Finest
We published 2,003 wine ratings in January, from 16 countries. Here’s how the tastings broke down (you can click “sort by” in the notes search engine below to search by each individual country): Australia, 19; Austria, 6; Canada, 7; France, 1,173 (Bordeaux, 943); Germany, 231; Italy, 241; Lebanon, 6; Morocco, 1; New Zealand, 9; Portugal: 6; Slovenia, 12; South Africa, 5; Spain, 14; Switzerland, 57; United States, 215; Uruguay, 1.
If you wanted even deeper insight into Bordeaux’s 2019 vintage, then this is the mother of all monthly tasting reports for you: Out of the 2,003 wines we rated during January, more than 900 were from what is looking like a truly classic vintage. And yes, we are still going at it in in February as we prepare to publish our full Bordeaux report soon.
James has been keenly following the vintage since he first tasted it from barrel in the spring of 2020, when he wrote that the wines “seem more typical for Bordeaux – which is a good thing – with a balance of alcohol, cool and blue fruits and fine linear tannins that are refined and driven.
“The wines are also more attractive at this young stage than the 2018s, with more floral and blue fruit character and more finesse in general,” James said. “Comparing to more recent vintages, they look more like 2015, which are beautiful today to drink with lots of perfume and beautiful freshness and richness at the same time.”
Thomas Duclos, one of the top consulting enologists in Bordeaux, said he also preferred 2019 because it represents an evolution toward making “great wines more accessible in their younger years,” while James has consistently praised the “incredible transparency” of the 2019s. The Right Bank is especially showing strong, James said, with the Pomerols offering “such flamboyant fruit and gloriously polished and plush tannins, yet there’s a finesse and integration to them.”
READ MORE: TOP 100 WINES OF FRANCE 2021
THE ESSENCE OF CHATEAU MARGAUX: James talks with Philippe Bascaules about Bordeaux 2019.
JEAN-CHARLES CAZES ON THE ‘PERFECT VINTAGE‘: The owner of Lynch-Bages discusses his 2019 releases.
Jean-Charles Cazes of Lynch-Bages is another owner impressed with the drinkability of the 2019s and believes they will stay open and beautiful through their lifetime, just like recent vintages including 2009 and 2015.
One of the wines James loved from 2019 was the Château Lafite Rothschild Pauillac 2019. It’s “one of the wines of the vintage,” with a refinement in texture and length that make it ethereal in nature and the “essence of Lafite,” he said. Another we rated highly was the Mouton Rothschild Pauillac, and it illustrates how the best terroirs of Bordeaux made the best wines in 2019, despite the region’s winemakers having to deal with a few days of strong rainfall at the end of July and the end of September and the hot and dry weather in between. Two other “essence” wines were the great St. Emilion estate of Chateau Ausone as well as the First Growth, Chateau Margaux.
“The vintage is more classic,” Philippe Bascaules, the managing director of Chateau Margaux, told James during a Zoom interview. “This wine is more open with a lot of charm.” He compared 2019 for Margaux to equally open and attractive years like 1982, 1990, 1996 and, more recently, 2015.
Some wines from Bordeaux’s less popular appellations didn’t fare quite as well in our ratings, including from Haut-Medoc, but they are still good quality in general.
The same 2019 versus 2018 vintage battle is also happening in Napa, for both reds and whites. James has consistently praised both vintages, with the 2019 cabernet sauvignon from Oakville’s Tench Vineyard one of his favorites during the month’s tastings. The Outpost Wines Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Howell Mountain True Vineyard 2019 also impressed, as did the newest offerings from Dalla Valle: the Napa Valley Maya 2019 and Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2019. Both “have real pedigree and elegance with intensity,” James said.
From the 2018 vintage, the Shafer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Stags Leap District Hillside Select 2018 is “incredibly gorgeous to drink now and suggests wonderful balance for long-term aging,” with greater harmony and focus compared with other recent vintages, according to James.
Barolos and Brunellos also flashed on our radar during January. We found some excellent bottles in Barolo’s 2018 vintage – very fresh and elegant offerings with fine tannins, although lacking the density and structure of the previous three vintages. But they also have a seductive brightness and delicacy, with some exceptional examples coming from Pio Cesare and Poderi Aldo Conterno, among others.
One of the owners of Pio Cesare, Federica Boffa, said in a Zoom interview with James that she was “extremely happy about 2018” and can’t wait for its release to the market in March. “Finally we will enjoy a classical vintage!”, she said. We think 2018 will be a very good one, reminiscent of vintages like 1995, 2004, 2009 or even 2014.
We also uncovered a wonderful Barolo from 2016: the Renato Ratti Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata 2016, which shows a sterling combination of structure, complexity and elegance.
THE GOOD DOCTOR IS IN
Meanwhile, wines from Salicutti, including Brunello di Montalcino Sorgente, Brunello di Montalcino Piaggione and Brunello di Montalcino Teatro, rose to the top among our tastings of Brunello’s 2017 vintage. James found them precise, soulful, and terroir-driven. His suggestion: find some now, as they are in limited release.
Senior Editor Stuart Pigott did a wide variety of tasting, mostly from Germany, but he also tapped into a few Burgundies and Beaujolais as well as some Swiss and New Zealand wines. Stuart raved about the wines from Germany’s Dr. Heger winery, which continues to make amazing spatburgunders (pinot noir) – including the Spatburgunder Baden Schlossberg GG 2019, which is at the same quality level as Bordeaux’s best. Stuart also had high praise for some of Dr. Heger’s rieslings, like the Riesling Baden Vorderer Winklerberg GG 2020. He also tasted a large selection of 2020s from the Mosel’s Max Ferd. Richter, a longtime quality wine producer whose bottles are always excellent quality and well-priced.
From the Swiss wines he tasted, Stuart gave out a great score to the Gantenbein Pinot Noir Graubünden 2019, remarking that anyone tasting it should “hang on to your hat and open your mind for this extraordinary pinot noir.” And staying on the pinot noir track, New Zealand’s Schubert Wines also scored big with its Schubert Pinot Noir Wairarapa Kai 2016, which Stuart said reminded him of “aged Grand Cru Burgundy.”
We also uncovered a number of wines from less popular wine regions that have shown leaps in quality. Our tastings of Virginia wines, in particular, showed a marked improvement as producers take their viticulture and winemaking more seriously each vintage. Top bottles from Barboursville, Early Mountain and RdV excite us, but we see more wineries coming online in the coming years that offer great potential.
Lebanon is also producing “soulful and delicious wines in general,” according to James, despite current problems with the economy and social unrest. Both the reds and whites we tasted from Ixsir winery were of outstanding quality. Another soulful producer is Marjan Simcic of Slovenia, who shows impressive dedication and intensity in making energetic reds and whites. His top ribolla gialla and pinot grigios are not to be missed and offer a unique drinking experience.
The variety of wines we tasted in January hints at our full 2022 schedule and puts us well on track to achieve our goal of surpassing the 25,000 wines we rated in 2021. For now, you can look forward to coming reports on Bordeaux, Rhone, Beaujolais and Switzerland, among others. Stay tuned!
– Vince Morkri, Managing Editor
