As I have not tasted the 2019s, but have had the 2016s, cannot make any kind of comparison, but I plan to do a fairly comprehensive 2019 tasting in a couple of months.
I can certainly see why you like the 2016s, it is indeed an extraordinary vintage, but stronger in the Medoc, while the 2019s according to reports, seem more homogenous. I plan to open the 2019 Montrose, so I can at least compare one of the top wines, and can see what the Brits are getting so excited about.
Jancis R released her scores today for the 2019 Southwold red bank reds.
If you compare some of these scores with her latest scores for 2016, you get the following results. I have only picked some examples, of wich some have been discussed here. The 2016 are not necessarily blind tasted. I hope I got the numbers right. She prefered the young Palmer to the young Ch Margaux.
Montrose: 18.5+ (2019) vs 18.5 (2016)
LLC: 18.5+ (2019) vs 18 (2016)
Latour: 18+ (2019) vs 18 (2016)
Lynch Bages: 18.5 (2019) vs 17+ (2016)
Mouton: 19 (2019) vs 19(2016)
Palmer: 19 (2019) vs 18.5 (2016)
I missed a tasting note for Dufort-Vivens, one of my favourite 2019s. Gloria got 18p, but personally I rated it much lower last spring.
I got some '19âs delivered yesterday, Montrose, PLL and DDC, and I Corvinâd a taste of each. I am going state the obvious and say they tasted young. These are borderline purple with lots of oak and tannins at this stage. I thought the DCC was the most drinkable and I am going to drink it this weekend and open it 24 hours beforehand. I will open the '16 too and do a side-by- side. I also got some older Bordeaux delivered yesterday and it reminded me that at my age, I should not be buying any more young Bordeaux, except if it made sense for investment purposes. If I were 20 years younger I would probably be all over this vintage given what the general consensus of the professional tasting community says about it.
I went deep on 2016 and I really like that vintage because it has a freshness about it and lower alcohol. These are wines that I think I can drink in my lifetime.
I believe Gonzague has stopped submitting samples to tastings so we didnât have Durfort. Shame as we opened a very decent 1979 on one of the evenings!
Looking forward to your DDC impressions, Jon. How old are you, exactly? I always find the topic of When to Stop Buying New Releases an interesting one â the answer varies tremendously depending on the person and the wines. For my part, I think approx. 2030 is the last vintage Iâll buy without hesitation in BdxâŚ
Brian,
I am a '69 vintage and will be 54 soon. The '90 vintage of Bordeaux is in the zone right now for me. The next vintage I will be drinking is '00 and after that I have '05/'09/'10/'14/'15/'16/19. I suspect '14 will be the earliest to drink of those. I have already gone through a decent quantity of half bottles of the '14, mostly DDC with a lesser quantity of Montrose, the Pichons and Cos. I went deep on '14 because it was a more classical vintage. I have a hard time drinking high alcohol, high extraction wines.
I can drink Brunello and Burgundy young and enjoy them for a few years before they shut down. I love that Champagne comes with a decent amount of age when it is released and usually starts drinking well about 6 months to a year after release. But Napa and Bordeaux rarely appeal to me young. I think Napa ages quicker, but I will probably need to stop buying those in a few years too.
Brian how old are you?
Iâm 57. Iâve bought a Smattering of 2019. I initially said 2014 was my last vintage, which just happened to be a classic vintage that I loved, so I went deep. I missed the boat on the initial offering of 2016, saying âno masâ to myself, but have been back-filling for quite some time after trying some. Awesome vintage. I doubt I go beyond 2019, except for perhaps a few things that catch my fancy. Would love to make all Bordeaux purchases at this point in 375.
No 2021 for you? You did read what WK said about the vintage right⌠âanyone who enjoys the great benchmark Bordeaux wines of the 1980s and 1990s should seriously reflect on what the 2021s may have to offer in 10 to 15 yearsâ timeâ⌠sounds right up your alley. 
Lol as he gets sucked right back inâŚ
Yes, did read that. Ugh.
Robert,
Iâm smack dab between Jonâs age, and his âif I were 20 years youngerâ comment: 42 right now, 43 later this year. I passed on mags of 2016 Pichon Baron at attractive pricing because I figured I likely wonât live long enough to see that bottle hit the stage of maturity Iâll be looking for â hard to believe I did that at the age of 38, but I did. I think anything beyond 75 will be OT for me, and I do also take into consideration the likely/possible reality of my tasting faculties gradually degrading over time, and then thereâs always that evil possibility of Palate Shift.
The '14 vintage sucked me back in to Bdx. â Iâd largely been out of the game since the '05 vintage, mostly due to pricing. So, part of me feels like I have some catching-up to do. I missed-out on the '16 vintage EP and on release, as I was still focusing on the '14s at the time â that was a mistake, and Iâve back-filled on '16âs a tiny little bit. As for now, I feel Iâm smack dab in the middle of the years where I should be buying like crazy to the extent that I can â and thatâs exactly what Iâve been doing. The trick, as you know, will be somehow finding a way to turn it off in 10 years â a task I already know will be terribly difficult. But, not gonna worry about that right now!!
Very cool, Jon â youâve got some excellent vintages lined-up for your future; like you, Iâm a huge fan of the '14 vintage in Bdx., as is Robert, here. Sounds like you and I have similar preferences re: how much age we like on our Bdx⌠Youâre currently digging '90, 32 years post-vintage; assuming the '19s see a similar timeline (and Iâm not saying they will or wonât), you could expect those to be in the zone right about when youâre in your late 70s to early 80s.
â21 is just so unattractively priced though
Agree, I had a few dozens of each vintage and the complexity and purity of flavors are superior in 2016 (for me not a close race). Additionally, the alcohol level is lower which can only be a plus and the style is cooler/fresher (which is more a style preference).
Same here, turning 40 this year and amassed a large stock of Bordeauxs. I do not intend to buy new vintages anymore from here on out as these would only start to reach my preffered drinking window when Iâm 75/80 years old.
I tasted 2019 Bordeaux (UGCB) in ZĂźrich from bottle. Is it the best vintage ever? I do not like those statements. But one thing is for sure. Someone who dislikes these wines does not like Bordeaux. Many, many superb wines and certainly not only in the luxury department. This is the trademark of a superb vintage when even the so called lesser wines are wonderful. And this is the case here. A second advantage of the vintage: Balance and very fine and smooth tannins. That means the wines are not in need of very long cellaring before being delicious. Ok â Lynch Bages and a handful others are exceptions.
This is a warmer/higher alcohol vintage though right? I own a lot of 2019, but I would have preferred it to be a degree lower alcohol. Some wines I tasted at UGC were well over 15%! I donât know what average alcohol of this vintage is, compared to say, 2016. Would be great if someone was able to put a list of the well known wines (including the Montrose, Cos, DDC of the world etc.)
Did you think the wines were out of balance, hot, not fresh? I did not think so. Most were wonderful IMO. I think focusing on the printed alc. number on the label is misleading. But at the end it is matter of individual taste. I liked the 2019 Bordeaux very much. I guess many consumers will like them too.
There were a few wines that were noticeably big and I felt compelled to ask the alcohol level from the pourer. Not all. I own a lot of 2019. And still would like to buy a couple more 2019 PLL (label 14.1%).
Pichon Lalande is certainly amongst the wines of the vintage. No question at all. Pricey unfortunately.
Margaux 2016: 13.0 / 2019: 13.9
Mouton 13.2 / 13.5
Haut Brion 13.9 / 14.6
Lafite 13.3 / 13.4
Latour 13.5 / 14.1
SHL 13.8 / 14.5
PLL 13.3 / 14.1
PB 13.3 / 14.0
Palmer 13.1 / 13.5
Montrose 13.3 / 13.9
Mission 13.7 / 14.7
LLC 13.6 / 14.0
Ducru 13.6 / 14.2
Cos 13.1 / 14.0
Calon 14.0 / 14.5
Canon 14.2 / 14.5
Cheval 14.2 / 14.3
Conseillante 14.0 / 14.5
Eglise Clinet 14.0 / 14.5
Evangile 14.6 / 15.0
Figeac 14.0 / 14.1
Pavie 14.5 / 14.5
Pavie Macquin 14.4 / 14.5
Petrus 14.5 / 14.5
VCC 14.5 / 14.5
Super helpful and thank you for sharing! On average 0.5% alc higher. Wonder if buzz on Mouton, Montrose, Palmer correlates to directionally lower alcohol this vintage than other 2019s? The wine that I asked pourers re alcohol was Troplong Mondot (felt more than 14.5% to me at UGC, but seeing WK disagrees in his note) and Valandraud which was 15.5%.