2021 Bordeaux has had a rough start. It was never going to be easy to follow 2018, 2019 and 2020 when everyone knew the weather was not going to allow for another highly rated vintage. Though everyone was glad to be back in Bordeaux for en primeur (after two Covid years where we tasted the wines at home in less than ideal conditions), it was clear from the outset that the wines were a step down on the last three years. This was compounded by the release prices, which did not reduce anywhere near enough to warrant buying the wines from barrel – many wines were released at 50% more than the 2019 releases, which were clearly much better.
Some prices have started to come down, in a few cases significantly so, and it was my hope that this tasting of the vintage from bottle would yield a few wines that now make sense to buy for those looking for wines that have less alcohol, more vibrancy and proportions akin to the Bordeaux wines of old. We tasted close to 300 wines over three days to see whether there were indeed wines to buy. A brief overview follows below.
We started on the right bank. Saint Emilion continues to improve stylistically from its days of over-extraction and over-oaking but that is about as much praise as we can give the appellation as a whole this year. Cheval Blanc is a vintage-defying success; the best right bank 2021 with superb fragrance and surprising depth. I was also impressed by Belair Monange, and if you like the Mitjaville wines I think both Tertre Rôteboeuf and Roc de Cambes are delicious versions of these idiosyncratic wines. There is little else to get the heart racing as we clearly saw the vintage's issues: the wines lack fruit in the middle, can be astringent or light in tannins, racy in acidity, or have oak that though normally well-judged dominates the flavour profile. The wines are sinewy at best and skinny for most.
Pomerol was led by the rare, expensive Le Pin. It is the wines with distinct personalities that have performed best in 2021. Eglise Clinet showed this too, and I enjoyed La Fleur Pétrus (as well as Trotanoy and Hosanna) in a strong effort across the Moueix wines. I must also single out special praise to the Durantou wines with Montlandrie from Castillon outscoring multiple St Emilions and Les Cruzelles easily beating several much higher priced Pomerols.
Carmes Haut Brion was the clear winner in Pessac-Léognan. Again, its distinctive style means that this is a wine that is more about who and what it is rather than displaying the characteristics of its vintage. Hyper fragrant, with a signature led by terroir, whole-bunch and clever élevage, it plays between blue fruit, pressed flowers and dried herbs. This is fairly good value and as a property on the rise it is one of few wines worth consideration in this difficult vintage.
Château Margaux was the top Margaux, pure and refined, with Palmer second thanks to its generous and remarkably inky style. Pavillon Rouge was a rare strong effort for a second wine – as a rule I would stress this is not a vintage to buy second labels as the lesser sites and fruit did not perform well for all but a few properties.
Montrose continued its string of strong vintages, clearly the best Saint Estèphe once more. It is a testament to the efforts of all concerned at this property and those assembling verticals of the château’s recent vintages can have confidence in this wine, even if it is weaker than the vintages around it.
Latour took the crown in Pauillac (and overall) in 2021. The property’s muscular density and vintage-defying ripeness shone through to take it out of the vintage style. The other first growths sat behind and there was a good performance from Pichon Baron.
Léoville Barton was the most impressive wine of the tasting. Not only did it win the Saint Julien flight but it was the second highest scoring wine overall. The level of ripeness and density, the muscular "al dente" tannins, vibrancy rather than lightness, salinity and sense of place all shone through. Not only that, it is now available at 22% below its release price – at £520 it is the lowest priced wine ever to finish in the top three at Southwold. This is the best and cheapest super second of the vintage and rated higher than all but one of the first growths by the group. I personally had it as my joint highest scoring wine of the vintage.
The whites and sweets should have been highlights in a cooler year defined by acidity, but I found both a little disappointing. They are undoubtedly good – in some cases very good – wines, but I didn’t see exceptional or homogeneous quality. Of the dry whites Petit Cheval Blanc won out in a year where the LVMH stable clearly made a lot of excellent decisions. Suduiraut was the clear winner of the sweet wines. Made in miniscule quantities, this had real depth, concentration, fragrance and botrytic character, a really excellent sweet wine.
Should you start to buy 2021 Bordeaux more widely? In short – no. There are a handful of wines worth having, particularly a couple where prices have been appropriately slashed, but the vast majority of these wines hold little interest for the vintage-conscious collector, and most prices still need to come down significantly to merit consumer interest when compared to other physically available vintages. By the end of the tasting, most tasters were disappointed by just how few serious wines there were this year.
Léoville Barton is worth it - the price is right and the quality is there. Carmes Haut Brion is worth a look, and the Mitjaville wines are more Mitjaville than 2021. Cheval Blanc is impressive for the vintage, but it has to be weighed against their other stellar wines of the last decade. Beyond that, it is slim pickings. La Fleur Pétrus and the Moueix stable are good performers when at the right price. We shall see what the release price of Latour is in due course, but as wine of the vintage it is the first growth to buy.
Buyers have a glut of options when looking for great Bordeaux since the turn of the century – my suggestion is that other than other than those above and maybe a clutch of the other top performers, you should look to buy elsewhere and at the very least wait a bit longer before considering the 2021 vintage for your cellar. The job for 2021 is to be the cheapest vintage in the market. When we considered the quality against the last decade, only 2013 ranked lower. Next up we have the 2015 Ten Years On tasting, and I’m expecting many better options for drinkers to buy.
Top Wines by Appellation
Saint Emilion – Cheval Blanc
Pomerol – Le Pin
Pessac-Léognan – Les Carmes Haut Brion
Margaux – Margaux
Saint Julien – Léoville Barton
Pauillac – Latour
Saint Estèphe – Montrose
Sauternes/Barsac – Suduiraut
Dry White – Petit Cheval Blanc
Vintage ranking, decade to 2021 :
Top tier: 2016, 2019, 2020 (at its peak)
Second tier: 2018, 2015, 2014 (northern Médoc), 2012 (right bank/Pessac)
Third tier: 2014 (elsewhere), 2017, 2012 (elsewhere), 2021
Bringing up the rear: 2013