Bordeaux winemakers on their personal top cellar picks
Have you ever wondered what makes wine industry leaders choose the reds and whites for their personal cellars? During a trip to Bordeaux, Westgarth Wines (WGW) spoke with figures from top estates for insights into what informs their choices when it comes to stocking up on wines for private use and aging. We put the following question to them: If you were to buy a single vintage from your château’s portfolio for your personal cellar, which would it be and why?
A good vintage was the main factor in these Bordeaux luminaries’ picks, but enjoyment and good value also feature, making it fascinating reading.
Vintage, vintage, vintage!
For Chateau Clinet’s Managing Director and owner, Ronan Laborde, a good vintage was the deciding factor for his choice. “The 2020 vintage is a wine with a lot of qualities. It is very smooth, highly complex, and has lot of vibrating intensity,” he told WGW.
Laborde thought that, of all his Pomerol house’s recent vintages, 2020 was the one he was the proudest of, recognizing that excellent weather conditions across the growing season helped create an outstanding wine.
Jeb Dunnuck gave the 2020 Château Clinet a blended score of 97 points writing, “it shows the tighter, fresher, more focused style of the vintage, yet it still brings plenty of mid-palate depth as well as an expansive texture…this is a gorgeous wine.”
Overall, the 2020 Pomerol vintage was exceptional, illustrating how optimal weather conditions throughout the growing season and harvesting influence wine quality. The wines featured harmonious acidity, smooth tannins, and moderate alcohol – a structure that lends itself to decades of cellaring.
Pauillac Second Growth, Château Pichon Comtesse CEO and winemaker, Nicolas Glumineau, also opted for an exceptional vintage to guide choice for his private cellar.
“I would have the 2019 Pichon Comtesse,” he told WGW.
The house’s 2019 scored 98-points from Vinous, Decanter, and Wine Advocate with William Kelley from the latter describing it as “one of the wines of the vintage” and “full-bodied, deep and complete […] velvety and seamless, with a broad attack and a multidimensional core of lively, succulent fruit”.
The chief at Forth Growth estate, Lafon-Rochet in Saint-Estèphe named a fine vintage and good potential performance in the cellar as pointers for his choice. He didn’t hesitate to land on the 2020 vintage, describing it as a wine he would buy not for immediate enjoyment but “for keeping”.
2020 Bordeaux yields were slightly below average, but the fruit was of excellent quality. Overall, the wines were medium to full-bodied, with good alcohol content, structured tannins, and fresh acidity. The vintage looks poised to become a legendary modern classic with decades of aging ahead of the best wines.
Wine pleasure
Justin Tesseron, co-owner of Fifth Growth Château Pontet-Canet in Pauillac, approached his choices with a focus on variety for potential growth across a range of vintages and multifaceted enjoyment. “I would buy wine for every occasion…wine to drink now…wine to keep. I would buy wine for the future generations,” he told WGW. “But I think what is good in wine is to have one vintage for every kind of occasion…I would buy maybe the last ten vintages or similar.”
The majority of the last decade of Bordeaux vintages fell into “excellent” and “legendary” categories with 2015, 2016, and 2018 in Château Pontet-Canet’s territory of Pauillac particularly notable years. The house’s wines from these years were scored 98 by James Suckling, 99 points from Vinous, and 98 by Wine Advocate respectively.
For Charles Thomas, Commercial Director of Second Growth Cos d’Estournel in Saint-Estèphe, wine was more than a “collectible” but a pleasure to be enjoyed with friends. His preference was for the 2016, 2018, and the 2020 vintages.
Cos d’Estournel’s 2016 received perfect scores from Wine Advocate, James Suckling, and Vinous with the former describing it as “magic”. Wine Advocate described the 2018 as “a very impressive behemoth” with a “full-bodied palate densely packed with taut, muscular black fruits and earthy layers, framed by super firm, ripe, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing very long and wonderfully earthy.” Jeb Dunnuck called the 2020 “a brilliant example of the vintage.”
Good prices
For Ferréol du Fou, Commercial Director and Sales Manager of Premier Grand Cru Classé B, Château Troplong Mondot in picturesque Saint-Émilion, the emphasis would be on vintage and value-for-money.
The château’s 2015 would be his choice to buy: “It still has a very good price, and it will increase in the future, I'm sure.”
Refined and elegant with polished tannins balanced by vibrant acidity, James Suckling awarded this wine 98 points. The 2015 vintage in Saint-Émilion was widely acclaimed, with many of the appellation’s wines offering early drinkability, with the best examples exhibiting outstanding aging potential.
Similarly, the 2019 vintage was classed as exceptional, with many of its wines earmarked to develop greater complexity over time. Wine Enthusiast scored Château Troplong Mondot 2019 100-points, commenting that "this estate is now on top form, producing this generously ripe, black plum flavored wine. It is lifted by acidity while powering the wine's intensity."
Its excellent value also makes this wine attractive. “It is first of all an amazing vintage. Plus, it is one of the cheapest vintages of Bordeaux and Troplong Mondot,” said du Fou.
Wine lovers have a range of reasons for choosing the hallowed contents of their cellars with scarcity and brand also important factors alongside vintage, enjoyment, and value. What’s the bottom-line factor for the much-loved wines in your cellar?
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