I have now been working in the wine trade for 46 years, 41 of which have been with Farr Vintners. I’ve seen many ups and a few downs in the market over this period and the last few years have been among the most challenging I have ever seen. However, it is certainly true that there has never been such a wealth of choice available of genuinely top quality wines from both the old world and the new.
That said, consumers need to tread carefully as in some cases producers continue to price their wines unrealistically. There is a glut of “new releases” – particularly of non-Bordeaux wine sold (wrongly) on the Bordeaux market - with few customers willing to buy them, simply clogging up the system. The flipside to this is that Bordeaux itself, from the 2019 vintage and older, is now looking very attractive in our view, particularly when one takes into account the latest releases. Ten year old claret with ratings in the mid 90s by the leading critics, at under £30 per bottle ex taxes, is remarkable when you think about it.
I have been drinking more Bordeaux this year than any other type of wine and reflecting on what makes it so special. For me, a key factor that separates Bordeaux from probably every other great wine region is that every vintage is so very different from the next. The influence of the Atlantic, the blend of different grape varieties, the difference in terroirs and maybe, above all, the varying winemaking philosophies give Bordeaux such a wealth of diversity. When I am at the Farr Vintners tasting bench, or enjoying a bottle at home, my assessment of quality keeps bringing me back to two very special vintages, both of which offer some of the best value for money in market today.
2016 – is a truly classic Bordeaux vintage. The wines have class, balance, structure and style. It’s not a shouty, show-off year. Alcohol levels are modest. Everything is ripe but not over-ripe. The wines are just so Bordeaux. It was also the first great vintage when wine-makers stopped making wine to impress Robert Parker and got back to basics. Our “Ten Years On” blind tasting at the beginning of this year was a great success and proved that you really can’t go wrong in this vintage – especially at the heart of the Médoc in St Julien, Pauillac and St Estèphe. Our undisputed star value Wine of the Vintage was Les Ormes de Pez (96 points – under £30 a bottle in bond) with flight-winning performances from Canon, Léoville Poyferré and Lynch Bages. The best thing of all about 2016 Bordeaux is that they are now ready to drink – although I’d give the very top wines a couple of hours in a decanter to get the motors really running.
2019 – I just keep coming back to this wonderful vintage, which is not only a fantastic crowd-pleaser, but remains really good value. It honestly reminds me of 1982. It has done since day one and continues to do so. 1982 was a vintage made from healthy yields that produced gorgeous open-knit wines that were delicious to drink almost from the get-go but have (as anyone reading this will know) stood the test of time. I still can’t get over just how delicious and approachable almost every wine is in 2019. Even the top names are approachable. The absolute #1 pick for value and quality is 2019 Gloria (another 96 point sub £30 claret) which was the star of the Southwold Tasting, but there are so many great wines in this vintage – and at all price points and in all appellations. You really don’t have to spend big bucks to enjoy a 2019 claret as Carignan, Cantemerle, Clos René and Ségla can attest. Of course, the big name wines are sensational right from the very top of the tree (the recently released Latour), through such classics as Domaine de Chevalier, Brane Cantenac and Grand Puy Lacoste that are still around the £40 per bottle mark. You simply don’t get this level of quality for the price in other famous wine regions.
Bordeaux has something for everyone, but if, like me, you want classic Cabernet and Merlot based claret that tastes of where it’s from then there’s simply nothing in the world of wine that can compare with these two great, but different, vintages.
Stephen Browett
Chairman, Farr Vintners Ltd
