Bordeaux 2019 Primeurs: The Rest of the Left
I finish up on the Médoc with my Rest of the Left report, bringing together all my remaining tasting notes from west of the Gironde. This means a slew of notes from the Haut-Médoc and Médoc appellations, as well as Moulis and Listrac, and a selection of white wines (as well as a couple of reds) that make use of the generic Bordeaux appellation. All these appellations (I think in particular the first two) provide a happy hunting ground for drinkers looking for sensibly priced bottles which over-deliver in good vintages, and with favourable conditions right through the growing season and harvest the 2019 vintage does not disappoint in this regard.
I will focus here solely on the best wines, which means looking mainly to the Haut-Médoc and Médoc appellations, although there are one or two wines of interest in Moulis and Listrac as well. Up in the Médoc there are a couple of names worth knowing; the first is Jean Guyon, the proprietor of a small collection of domaines led in this report by the 2019 Château Haut-Condissas, a wine rich in dark, dried and perfumed fruits, although his other wines, including the 2019 Château Tour Seran and 2019 Château Rollan de By were not far behind. The other name worth looking out for is Andrew McInnes, who is a high-visibility commercial director of a small handful of neighbouring domaines which have a habit of turning out attractively priced wines of consistency and quality, and here the 2019 Château La Cardonne was looking very smart, while the 2019 Château Ramafort will also provide good drinking.
Alongside those based in the Médoc there are also good options from winemakers based a little further south. Dominique Arangoïts of Château Cos d’Estournel has done a characteristically fine job with the 2019 Goulée (since renamed G d’Estournel), surely one of the best vintages he has ever made here. Meanwhile, the 2019 Château Les Grands Chênes, from the portfolio of Bernard Magrez, proprietor of Château Pape-Clément (and maybe a dozen other châteaux in the region, if not more), also proves that you can find good things here in the Médoc. It will not suit every palate, as it has the trademark jet-black rocket-fuel style which pervades the Magrez portfolio, but I can’t help but admire the intention and the outcome.
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