Bordeaux Cru Bourgeois, 2019: 2010 – 2016
As they have done in years past, the Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc brought 32 wines from the most recent annual classification to London for tasting, wines which I have already described in my Bordeaux 2017 Cru Bourgeois tasting report. The difference this year, however, was that 2017 was the last-ever annual classification, as the group’s members have recently voted in favour of a shift from an annual system to one renewed every five years, as I have described in my Bordeaux 2017 Cru Bourgeois introduction. To celebrate, the 32 participating châteaux also brought, alongside their 2017 vintage, another wine from an older vintage. All these older vintages come from the modern era for this classification, which came into existence with the 2008 vintage.
Naturally most of the wines featured very recent vintages, in particular 2016 and 2015. This only served to reinforce the superiority of the 2016 vintage in recent years, 2015 having been much less exciting on the left bank compared to the right (except perhaps in Margaux). It was also certainly superior to the 2014 vintage. No château was brave (or foolish) enough to submit a 2013 vintage, which left a handful of older examples from 2012, 2011 and 2010, some of which were interesting, some of which were less inspiring. What the best wines did show, however, is that provided you know where to look, the cru bourgeois level in Bordeaux remains an excellent source of classically styled wines for drinking. (31/10/19)
