Very broadly, 2021 can be summarised as a vintage of ‘happy surprises’, both for winemakers who managed to battle the elements to harvest healthy, ripe grapes and for people who’ll enjoy a return to cool-classic, fresh, lively, refined and lower-alcohol Bordeaux. For a vintage that may have been a catastrophic failure in Bordeaux 10 or 20 years ago – one that on paper you may think should have been – 2021 has produced some exceptional wines in every leading appellation, thanks to improvements in viticultural practices and vinification techniques.
Standouts span both Left and Right Banks, covering red, white and sweet styles. There are wines that I thoroughly enjoyed tasting, would be thrilled to own and that I believe will be incredibly sought-after when it comes to actually drinking them.
However, the vintage is also incredibly uneven, with viticultural challenges indiscriminate in their effects across the region. Frosts may have spared the highest or most protected terroirs, but rain, slow flowering, mildew, botrytis, grey rot, lack of sunlight, even cicadelle parasites (vine leafhoppers) paid no heed to classifications or historic hierarchies.
It’s therefore not a vintage to buy blind.
The vintages that divide opinion are arguably more interesting than those that don’t – and Bordeaux 2021 fits into this category. Now that the annual en primeur tastings have drawn to a close, an array of differing opinions on these young wines has been offered by leading critics. There are potential 100-point scorers to be found among the best of the vintage, but 2021 has at the same time drawn comparisons to
