The highlight of my tastings in the past week had to be the 2019 Lafite. I was speaking with Eric Kohler, technical director at Chateau Lafite Rothschild, over Zoom while we tasted four wines from the 2019 vintage. You can see highlights of our conversation here, and also see the wine scores and notes.
I have also picked several other Bordeaux en primeurs as highlights. We published the first en primeurs report last week, but I will continue to taste wines as they arrive at James Suckling Wine Central in Hong Kong, jet-freighted in from France. I have tasted more than 500 wines now.
The quality of 2019 so far has been fantastic, and we will publish a second report soon. In the meantime, wines like the Vieux Chateau Certan, Larcis Ducasse and Pavie-Macquin have impressed, with beautiful fruit and great structure. We have many wines from top producers still to come too, so watch this space for those! Mouton-Rothschild just arrived.
Finally, I have started on some Barolo 2016s too, and Poderi Aldo Conterno’s single vineyard Cicala is worthy of a special mention, with chocolate-powder and light toasted-oak character. It’s always Conterno’s single vineyard wine that shows the most structure and the 2016 produced powerful and traditional nebbiolos with modern polish.
And Executive Editor Nick Stock found a couple of gems as well. “The Corton-Charlemagne is one of the stars of the 2017 white vintage and a wine that sets a high bar for the power and drive,” he said. “A great vintage and one that delivers such a clear and powerful voice for this chardonnay terroir.
“The Ancestor Vine 2010 Ox Hardy Shiraz is a piece of vinous history that traces the history back to the establishment of the McLaren vale region. It is part of a new project that has Seen Andrew Hardy return to producing wine from a very revered section of the Vale, Upper Tintara, where his family has deep and significant historical ties. As a 10-year-old release it has very few reference points, similar to the great Vega Sicilia Unico of Spain’s Ribera del Duero.”
All these wines scored 98 points or above. Enjoy!
– James Suckling, CEO & editor
