Bordeaux 2016 at Two Years
Having spent the best part of a week in Bordeaux rediscovering the 2015 vintage back in May 2018 (a little behind schedule, but I got there in the end) only a few months had passed before I found myself planning my next visit to the region. And after a few hurried weeks of emails and phone calls, I stepped off the plane in Nantes (an unusual airport to use for a trip to Bordeaux – more on that later) in December 2018. A whirlwind week of tasting followed. After a week or two (or three) of writing up my notes, I am delighted to now be able to present my latest report on the 2016 Bordeaux vintage, taking a fresh look at the wines now they have been bottled.
The 2015 and 2016 vintages will give Bordeaux drinkers plenty to talk about over the next few decades. This is a fascinating pair of back-to-back vintages, a modern-day re-run of 1989 and 1990 perhaps. The 2015 vintage received rave reviews, and rightly so, because this was a vintage in which some appellations truly excelled. Not the ‘talked up’ excellence of 2014, when the wines were merely the best of a less-than-exciting bunch, but real, rich, plush, textural and tangible excellence. On the right bank the wines were nothing short of powerhouses, the wines brimming with layers of black cherry and damson fruits all supported by velvety-ripe tannins. On the left bank, the appellations of the southern Médoc, especially Margaux, with St Julien and Pauillac following suit, also enjoyed an excellent vintage. How, in short, could 2016 be expected to top that?
Well, at the primeurs at least, it appeared that 2016 was ready to do just that. The right-bank wines were excellent, of a similar quality to 2015, although in a very different style. They were lower in alcohol, a characteristic of the vintage, with a less luscious and more sinewy substance, and overall they displayed a much fresher profile. On the left bank, however, the differences were not just stylistic. The northern Médoc was troubled by rain in 2015, and quality was not uniform. In 2016, however, all of the leading left-bank appellations put in stellar performances, with a fresh and elegantly poised style. The wines have deliciously ripe fruit profiles, but without all the slick and glossy texture of modern Bordeaux; instead, they are more reminiscent of old-school Bordeaux, a deft and balanced style many of us thought would never be seen again. It was clear 2016 had great potential, possibly more so than 2015.
