I. Distractions In 1987, when I was 18 and a dollar was worth more than twice as much as it is today, I started reading magazines: M, Esquire, GQ. Nearby, in our somewhat cultured Texas town, a new bookstore opened in a cavernous space that had formerly housed the shag-carpeted roller skating rink of our childhood. Through the front windows, which had before been darkly tinted to give the place an alluring den-of-prepubescent-iniquity vibe, now streamed bright, clean light, showcasing a look and layout that would become the interior design gestalt of today’s national-chain, big-box book superstore. The rows upon rows of open, dustless shelving bearing a veritable warehouse of volumes; the ceiling hung with its industrial innards on display; the enfilade of check-out cubicles; and the wall – the great wall – that displayed a preposterous-to-behold assortment of glossies, quarterlies, journals, newsweeklies, fanzines, tabloids, almanacs, and all other flora and fauna of magazines arrayed upon a rack perhaps 50 feet long.  I went in there to look for a book. I liked books, and, one day, I was sure I wanted to write one. But I got distracted and bought a magazine instead – that August’s issue of GQ, which still stands out in my mind as a thing of formative significance. At that time, the zeitgeist was defined by a Walkman-wearing version of the American Renaissance Man – the highly-ambitious, status-obsessed, money-motivated, health-nut known as a Yuppie. No magazine positioned itself more authoritatively in defining this new sociological creature’s lifestyle than GQ, and it did it with whiter teeth, snappier suspenders, better accessories, bigger polka dots and more caffeine in the ink of its display copy.  I remember that issue less for the photos by Richard Avedon or Steven Meisel, the words of Martin Amis or Frederick Exley, than for this: Erzeugerabfüllung. It was one of the longest, strangest strings of letters from the Roman alphabet I had ever seen. Neither did it seem designed to come out of someone’s mouth. But there it was in Alan Richman’s Wine & Spirits column, accompanied by a lovely still-life photograph of his topic: two bottles of Riesling Kabinetts on a white, sun-dappled tablecloth. Richman’s main point – made almost 35 years ago – still holds true: estate-bottled, table-quality German wines remain some of the least expensive, most delicious wines in the world, chiefly because – then as now – the labels, as he wrote, “cannot be understood by anyone who is not a part-time oenophile, linguist and cartographer”. One US dollar in Richman’s pocket, as I have already said, bought what roughly two-dollars-and-fifty-cents does today; what he was on the hunt for was a good dry white in a range that would now cost somewhere between 12 and 30 bucks, and he easily accomplished that by finding a dealer in New York City who carried a good selection of wines from the Mosel and Rheingau. At the time, I didn’t know the meaning or significance of any of this, but it staked a claim in my brain. The only wine I had ever tasted was the one served at our Episcopal church during Eucharist on Sundays. The flavour it had was of a strange, super-concentrated jam that somehow warmed your upper body. Even as a young kid, I liked it. But the adjectives these German bottles were squeezing out of Richman – “citrus-like”, “honeyed”, “tart-sweet” – weren’t close to describing what was in that chalice, even if you believed in transubstantiation. Was it because Richman’s wine was white, and the parish’s was red? Perhaps, but both colours of grape juice bottled by Welch’s tasted pretty much the same to me. No, I sensed there was something – a lot – I had to learn, and, along with the romance and beauty of the labels, and the contextual air of well-bred taste and cultural with-it-ness featured on the other pages, this, I feel sure, was the decisive moment, the true origin point, when I came to believe that among the many extraordinary things that make life worth living, not just words but wine reigns at the top.  I warned you about distractions, didn’t I? Because that would be my excuse for now informing you, as a quite apropos footnote, that, yes, there was something unusual about our church’s Communion wine. It was, as I have confirmed with the church, actually port (Taylor’s Tawny, to be more accurate), cut, according to tradition, with water. There is a good and fascinating reason for this. In 1701, when the War of the Spanish Succession kicked off, France also became an enemy of England, and its wines, as a result, were no longer made available for import. The Anglican Church searched for and found a replacement, the fortified wines of its new ally, Portugal, and port continues to be an acceptable option to pair with the Host.  II. Distillations A satisfying story, not unlike a satisfying life, is one that surprises you with the mystery of its unfolding. A thing pulls in a certain direction long enough to reach the proximity of something else which then turns toward a new destination. I had actually gone into that bookstore, as I said, to look at books. But I came out, even though I didn’t yet know it, with a different compass point. Within a few years, shortly after graduating from college, in 1992, I got hired by The New Yorker, where I stayed for almost nine years. I then met my future wife, who wisely laughed at the thought we might be able to survive in New York City on my meagre salary, so I went to Vogue, and soon after became the founding editor of Men’s Vogue. After 23 issues, and four years, the financial crisis laid an axe to many magazines, including that one. Eventually, I took on the editorship of Town & Country. Then, finally, in 2016, I moved up to Esquire, the magazine, as it happens, that didn’t offer me a job when The New Yorker did, and became that storied magazine’s editor in chief, until – well, you best read about that in The New York Times.  As far as distractions go, magazines were a good one. They made me who I am, gave me a tremendously worldly education, honed my taste, introduced me to all manner of accomplished people, required me to build quite a wardrobe, and paid me pretty well to do all of this, often with a glass of wine not far out of the picture. There was really no other way I would have ever got to taste all the bottles I have (a lot of the big names people whisper about from Burgundy and Bordeaux, Champagne and also Piedmont, Tuscany and Napa). I built a modest cave à vin of my own by buying the Smith Haut Lafittes of the world way before hedge-fund hoi polloi ran up the prices, and by having access to rare offerings, like 12 bottles of Fiorano, the legendary white wine Alberico Boncompagni Ludovisi, prince of Venosa, made before ripping out all his vines. I smelled the musty perfume of Margaux in the cellar as I watched the workers rack the wine by candlelight. I lured Jay McInerney away from the Wall Street Journal to become my wine columnist; and I once stood in Bordeaux’s town square, tight on 2002 Pétrus, trying with great focus to commune with the statue of Michel de Montaigne while my French friend, a true oenophile, extolled the majesty of the Big Mac’s special sauce.  As the editor of a magazine, curiosity is your profession, even to the point of distraction. Editors – writers, too – are prone to it. It’s a hazard of the gift, and having a jumble of ideas, if you’re any good, is key to making a magazine of any real intellectual or creative daring. Now as a husband and father of three, working from home and trying to be ‘present’, and a still youngish former editor and occasional micro-influencer trying to stave off the solitude to fathom and plot the next phase of a fruitful future, this skill of mine, the strength of which became even more magnified over two decades, is something of a family project.  The way I most often hear the word ‘distraction’ now, for instance, is when it’s being hurled at me in verb form by my wife or daughters accusing me of being more of a phone-enslaved screen vegetable than they are. (I respectfully disagree.) But it’s a sore point for two reasons. One, what I did as an editor is, in a nutshell, now what a smartphone essentially does. Not very imaginatively, of course, and not with taste or charm or originality, but with a bloody, money-grubbing ruthlessness that stalks every step of our digital peregrinations and doesn’t give a twist if the algorithms that are its brain make us its slave by retrofitting our attention spans for kindergarten.  The smartphone – not the former me or any of my fellow kind still in the media biz – is now the true croupier of culture, dealing out a targeted shuffle of Pavlovian temptations to the point of daily mental exhaustion. And, though this thing is in many ways my personal nemesis, I am, against every fibre of my being, too often its obedient servant. Aiming not to live according to the famous line by T.S. Eliot – “distracted from distraction by distraction” – I recently decided to at least take a serious inventory of my favourite ones, both those of the pre-digital sort (tennis, The Walking Dead, checking the mailbox, my sock collection) and those of the post-digital sort (the any and everything I do because my phone wants me to). Then I caught myself watching tennis on my phone and realised this might be harder than I thought. It’s enough to drive a person to drink, thank god! With that in mind, I like to keep a special something for the occasion around, in this case – what else? – two bottles of Riesling Kabinett, for it had struck me as more than a little weird that I’ve probably tasted fewer than a handful of German wines in my entire life. Part of the reason is that those I had were bad, and, like a lot of other simpletons about this great wine region of the world, I’d come to think of Riesling as a cloying elixir equal parts green Jolly Rancher, apple cider vinegar, and hairspray. This, I knew, was wrong, not true and, in terms of wine equity and inclusion, on the wrong side of history. But, if you happen to live in a place like I do – a bourgie swathe of Connecticut bordering New York City where the shops cater heavily to Cali-Fran-Taly banker’s tastes – it might take you a few stops to find what Richman recommended, an erzeugerabfüllung (estate-bottled) Kabinett (wine made from grapes with a minimum must weight/sugar content) Riesling, and when you do it will probably be coated in a fine sift of years-old dust. I bought a green (Mosel) bottle for US$16 and a brown (Rhine) bottle for US$20, both handsomely labelled. I opened them a few minutes ago and took several investigative swigs. The words bright, invigorating and snappy came to mind. One is indeed sweeter, and, though not my usual jam, it is tamped by a pleasing peachy tartness, and the classic overtone of honey isn’t making my palate feel doused with syrup. The other example is, as Richman said so long ago, a very finely layered creature with mineral clarity and an echo of baked bread, something a gluten-free person like me finds particularly appealing. A rather obvious thought: why haven’t I been buying this instead of throwing a ton of endless money at affordably bad white Burgundy, which is mostly a product aimed at fulfilling a desired outcome, like White Claw hard seltzer? III. Words But don’t let me get distracted, again. A writer really has to be careful about such things. Just think about it. Unlike, say, a painter or musician or actor or photographer, the process of writing requires zero physical exertion, no chance to score an endorphin release while sitting staring anxiously at a blank page. Of the many things in life that vie against the counter intuitive impulse to be glued to a desk, Cyril Connolly, in Enemies of Promise, his classic study of the things that distracted him (and others) from becoming a great writer, names the temptations but does not say much about why they’re so deeply tempting to someone who would otherwise be sitting alone in an empty room. Praise, money, fame, social prominence, affairs and journalism are the most common boltholes, according to Connolly, who, as a famously late sleeper that married three times, might have also added the bliss of unconsciousness and excessive alimony. In 1938, the year the book was published, he would never have imagined how hard the task might get without a cigarette. Smoking is a death wish, I know, but when you want to off yourself for still having a hundred pages to go, being able to snap open a nice lighter, flick some ash, stub a butt and inhale some lungfuls of focus-enhancing nicotine must have been kind of helpful. Connolly also doesn’t have much to say about drink except that artists who drink to excess do so “out of the consciousness of wasted ability”. According to that, the 20th century’s most famous literary alcoholics – Dorothy Parker, Truman Capote, F. Scott Fitzgerald, William Styron, Elizabeth Bishop, James Joyce, Raymond Chandler, William Faulkner – might have left behind even greater treasures than they did. Because Ernest Hemingway did almost everything with more gusto than any of his peers, including running up his bar tab, as a drinker he belongs in his own sentence. He is the novelist who most romanced a good drink or nice bottle of wine as one of life’s great pleasures. Who didn’t want to have a vermouth with Jake when reading The Sun Also Rises? (Don’t, it’s gross, at least if you order it at one of those kiosks in Montmartre where the bottles are hung upside down with spring-loaded dispensers.) Or, track down a bottle of Valdepeñas, Hemingway’s favourite variety of Spanish wine. Or, get a drink at the bar named after him at the Ritz, in Paris, and then go somewhere on the Left Bank to order “a dozen portugaises and a half-carafe of the dry white wine”.  In the early work, he is not boastful about drinking so much as he is the possessor of an unusual appetite for a good buzz. He is also, like Connolly, aware of the need to keep writing separate from drinking, and drinking within his control. It is hard to read the first paragraph of A Moveable Feast, in which he describes an “evilly run café where the drunkards of the quarter crowded together and I kept away from it because of the smell of dirty bodies and the sour smell of drunkenness”, except as a kind of terrifying admonition to himself. It is tragic that he didn’t heed his own advice. Late in his life, Hemingway became fond of rum daiquiris at the Floridita, his favourite bar in Havana, which might explain his taste for a prose style that soon became too often cloying self-parody. In one of the most extraordinary drinking sessions ever committed to words, in the roman à clef Across the River and Into the Trees, a 50-year-old Hemingway, who was smitten with a teenage Italian countess from Venice, fictionalises his infatuation with a last muse. In one stretch (that covers an evening-to-dawn crawl from Harry’s Bar, the grill at the Gritti Palace, a gondola and a hotel room), one half or another of the couple imbibes: one scotch whisky and soda; six Montgomery Martinis (15 parts gin; 1 part vermouth), two of which are described in size as ‘super’; a bottle of Capri Bianco; two bottles of Valpolicella; two bottles of Roederer Brut ’42; and two bottles of Perrier-Jouët. That is, I suppose, one extreme, and, clearly, not one to be tried at home.  The other might have been espoused by Dr. Samuel Johnson, the great critic and lexicographer. As a young man, he’d drained “many a bottle of wine” but loved port especially. (Perhaps Johnson, a devout Anglican who was born in 1709, in the midst of England’s 14-year war with Spain, also first encountered port as a boy at the Communion altar.) He describes himself to friend and biographer James Boswell as having been “apt to go to excess in it”, adding that, “therefore, after having been for some time without it, on account of illness, I thought it better not to return to it”.  Boswell, who worried about his own dependence on alcohol, even keeping a journal of his intake in an attempt to enforce moderation, argued for a third way, which some of the Romantics later adopted. Wine, he claimed, “produces truth; in vino veritas”. Hoping to persuade Johnson of his point, Boswell once convinced the critic to come down off the wagon for just one glass of claret, so Johnson “might judge, not from recollection, which might be dim, but from immediate sensation”. Boswell reports what happened after the glass was emptied: “Johnson shook his head, and said, ‘Poor stuff! No, Sir, claret is the liquor for boys; port, for men,’” adding, “‘A man would be drowned by it before it made him drunk.’”  That actually reminds me of something I think I forgot to mention about Riesling Kabinetts – they’re also highly admired for their low percentage of alcohol. On that note, I think I’ll have another glass.  This article was originally published in FONDATA, Issue Two.

Jay Fielden, former editor of Men’s Vogue, Town & Country and Esquire, recalls how a magazine column on wine, read in a Texas bookstore, shifted his ambitions beyond journalism and set him on the path to becoming a writer of books.

Former Esquire editor-in-chief Jay Fielden reflects on magazines, writing, Riesling Kabinett and the distractions that shaped a life in words and wine.

Jay Fielden on Wine, Words and Distraction

How one became another  

Châteauneuf-du-Pape has a long history, becoming the new home for the Pope in the 14th century, but its prestige as a wine region is comparatively short. Although it is France’s oldest appellation (the first to be officially classified in 1923), the wines only really gained notoriety in the second half of the 20th century. More recently, its full-bodied, fruity style found appeal among American critics – namely Robert Parker, who helped increase its following across the Atlantic. But, despite the success of estates such as Ch. Rayas, there is little fanfare around the region. Isabel Ferrando’s dynamism, therefore, is a refreshing change. Her story is one of revolution rather than evolution. With every step in her career, she has made bold decisions – decisions that have brought significant attention, praise and a legion of fans. For her, such an approach aligns neatly with the philosophy of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. “The only limit is to respect the appellation. That is the only limit,” says Ferrando. With 13 permitted varieties (or 22 if you count both white and red grapes) and five very different, distinct soils, countless expressions of the appellation are possible – and, for her, this is why it’s a very modern appellation. Everyone is given the freedom to “paint their picture”. Although the region might be famous for its galets roulés (large round pebbles that reflect heat and add to ripeness), this is just one of its terroirs. “There are five different soils in Châteauneuf – chalk, limestone, clay, sand, galet stones that each have a strong influence on the appellation,” she explains. “There is one singularity,” she admits, “and that is a lot of fruit.” She feels that Châteauneuf is united by its “fruity but serious” profile – however, beyond that, there is incredible variety – from more floral to darker, more savoury styles. “The vines on clay produce a fatness in the wine. The sandy soils bring a silky texture and tenderness to the tannins. The chalk gives a sensation of powder,” she says, highlighting how each soil type contributes to the final wine – providing a palette for any winemaker to produce a wine that fits their sensibility. This freedom made the region a perfect fit for Ferrando – who decided to give up her job in banking to become a winemaker 20 years ago. Then a new mother, she initially thought that being her own boss would allow her to spend more time with her family. That didn’t actually happen, she admits, “But when you become a mother or father, you become someone else – you look at life differently. I wanted to go back to nature,” she says. “I didn’t want to raise my daughter in a city. I was born in the countryside, and I needed that for my daughter.” After training for a year in Gigondas under Dominique Ay (at Domaine Raspail-Ay) she found a domaine for sale in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and jumped at the opportunity. She might have been new to the region, a woman in a male-dominated industry with no background in winemaking, but that wasn’t going to put her off. Fortunately, she made some good friends – most notably the late legendary Châteauneuf-du-Pape producer Henri Bonneau who was instrumental in the establishment of Domaine Saint-Préfert. When she arrived, the vineyards were not in good shape, with many vines diseased and in need of replanting. Traditionally, producers in Châteauneuf-du-Pape blend plots together to capture the complexities of the different soils and varieties etc. But, if she was to make a wine of quality, this was not possible for Ferrando. So she identified the best plots and bottled those separately (as her Réserve Auguste Favier and Collection Charles Giraud cuvées), while she set about replanting the rest of the vineyards. The young fruit from her new vines was dedicated to her Cuvée Classique Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Single-vineyard bottlings were quite a radical move in the appellation – but such was the quality of these low-production, old-vine bottlings that Ferrando’s wines rapidly earned recognition. She went further to challenge convention in the region, crafting three varietal wines in a region that was built on blends. These cuvées – a Clairette (Cuvée Spéciale Vieilles Clairettes), Cinsault (Cuvée F601) and Grenache (Cuvée Colombis) bottling – are remarkable wines. There is no other 100% Cinsault produced in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.“The Cinsault is absolutely perfect in Saint-Préfert,”, says Ferrando. “Nowhere else in Châteauneuf-du-Pape do you get these floral aromas.” She describes the grape as the Pinot Noir of the Rhône. Production is tiny – limited to just 800 bottles a year – and it is not cheap at £500 a bottle. But, for those lucky enough to taste it, it is beguiling. The Wine Advocate’s Joe Czerwinski rated it as his top discovery of 2020. Her 100% Clairette is another oddity for Châteauneuf-du-Pape and almost as rare. Only bottled in magnums (800 a year) – this is a wine that Ferrando believes can age 50 years or more. “Clairette is my vision of white wine in the Southern Rhône.” She wants to counter the claim that white Châteauneuf-du-Pape is fat and fruity. “With Clairette, you can produce very fresh and deep wines,” she says, “it gives a lot of freshness, tension and salinity to the whites.” The wine was inspired by her mentor Henri Bonneau, who convinced Ferrando to bottle these 80-year-old vines separately. In the early days of Saint-Préfert, Ferrando invited Bonneau to a feast of tête de veau – and Bonneau arrived with a magnum of an unlabelled white wine. During the meal, Bonneau started to cry – he told Ferrando that the wine was the last bottle from the cellar made by his father – a 1947 100% Clairette – showing how well good Clairette could age. “It was a very special moment,” notes Ferrando. The wine was incredibly fresh and in perfect condition. He asked Ferrando again to create another 100% Clairette – like his father’s. The first vintage was 2009. Once the wine was picked and fermented Bonneau would come to the winery, taste the wine and insist she not bottle the wine yet. It was not ready. “It was risky,” says Ferrando, “but he insisted.” After 18 months she could hold off no longer and bottled it. Tasting the wine, she was amazed by its tension. It was special. The first magnum of every vintage was given to Bonneau as a thank you. After 20 years in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Ferrando is one of the appellation’s brightest stars. But she hasn’t stopped challenging the status quo. After building one of the most celebrated brands in the appellation, Ferrando overhauled her range in 2020 – discontinuing many wines and changing the estate’s name to Famille Isabel Ferrando. Few people would have the guts to take such a chance, but a meditative period over Covid-19, the death of her husband and the evolution of her vineyards all prompted her next radical change. “The resistance of people to change is apparent, it is comfortable to stay the same,” she admits. But, for Ferrando, she had to change. Over 20 years, she’d nurtured her vineyards back to health, her young vines had reached maturity and her biodynamic farming had brought biodiversity back into her vineyards. “The vineyards changed and so the wines had to change too,” she explains. Ferrando now had the quality of fruit to be able to produce a single, flagship Châteauneuf-du-Pape cuvée – a wine that represented her terroir and her winemaking style. While she still produces her Vieilles Clairettes, F601 Cinsault and Colombis cuvées, she has sacrificed her top-scoring Auguste Favier and Charles Giraud reds to produce what she feels is a true representation of her estate and sensibility. The wine captures her obsession with freshness, balanced with concentration – playing with the different textural qualities of her soils and varieties. With this refreshed focus from the 2020 vintage, Ferrando decided to bottle the wines under Famille Isabel Ferrando – trusting that her customers will follow the wines under this new name. Ferrando’s daughter seems to have inherited her mother’s revolutionary approach. At 22, she decided to abandon her business studies to tackle a degree in viticulture in Beaune – to the complete shock of her mother. While currently her daughter is learning about winemaking at some of the best estates around the world (including at the likes of Domaine Roulot, Eisele Vineyard, Mullineux and more), she has already had an influence at Saint-Préfert. It was under her guidance that Ferrando hired a young agronomist engineer who has been planting trees and cereal crops in the vineyards to improve biodiversity. Ferrando is clearly excited– still spurred on by change, despite her success. Tasting the new wines from Famille Isabel Ferrando is a wonderful experience. We were among the first to taste the 2021 vintage. The white Châteauneuf-du-Pape is divine – offering such beautiful freshness, salinity and depth, with a finesse that I can’t remember tasting from the region. And the reds, even at such a young age, already taste so balanced, pure and refined. Ferrando might be a radical and modern vigneron, but her wines are timeless. Browse all Famille Isabel Ferrando listings or read more Editorial

Isabel Ferrando is one of the stars of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. As she once more tears up the rulebook to relaunch her wines under Famille Isabel Ferrando, we discuss her journey so far, and why she believes Châteauneuf-du-Pape is one of the most exciting wine regions in the world today.

Over 20 years, Isabel Ferrando has been challenging convention in Chateauneuf-du-Pape – she explains why it’s so essential to never stop evolving

Talking to Chateauneuf-du-Pape’s Isabel Ferrando

The challenge to change: Isabel Ferrando

Alcuni dei primi ricordi di Nicolas Champagneux riguardano la vita tra le vigne – il trambusto della vendemmia con i suoi nonni. Non è la fatica che ricorda, ma “des bons moments de famille”, mi racconta – lo spirito conviviale che pervadeva l’aria. È cresciuto nel cuore della Côte-Rôtie, trascorrendo fine settimana e vacanze nel vigneto di famiglia – un’ampia porzione di Les Grandes Places, un sito rinomato nel comune di Verenay, dove il suo bisnonno piantò le viti all’inizio del XX secolo. 
 Les Grandes Places è un sito straordinario – il produttore più famoso è probabilmente Jean-Michel Gérin. Nella parte nord della Côte Brune, in un anfiteatro esposto a sud-ovest, questo pendio scosceso ha suoli friabili di mica scistosa che permettono alle radici delle viti di penetrare profondamente nella roccia madre. È casa di alcune viti molto vecchie – come quelle centenarie coltivate da Champagneux – e produce vini di grande eleganza ma con una potenza scura e carnosa. Champagneux possiede quasi due ettari qui, detenendo le maggiori superfici. 
 Lo zio di Nicolas, André, prese in gestione il vigneto dopo i nonni, mentre suo padre Gérard andò a lavorare in fabbrica. All’epoca non c’erano abbastanza risorse per permettere a entrambi i fratelli di unirsi all’attività di famiglia, e la Côte-Rôtie non era così ricercata come oggi. A parte un paio di barrique per consumo personale, la famiglia non vinificava, coltivando il sito e vendendo quasi tutta l’uva a Guigal, uno dei nomi più famosi del Rodano settentrionale. 
 Infatti, oltre al vigneto di famiglia, Nicolas trascorse molto tempo da Guigal – dopo che suo padre Gérard lasciò la fabbrica per dirigere il loro team di viticoltura. Dai 16 anni, Nicolas lavorava lì durante le vacanze per guadagnare un po’ di soldi. Quando compì 18 anni, dovette trovarsi un lavoro: era deciso a non lavorare in ufficio e amava stare all’aria aperta, così finì per diventare elettricista ad alta tensione – lavorando con correnti di 20.000 volt. “Non eri mai nello stesso posto, ogni giorno era diverso, ogni compito era diverso – quindi non c’era monotonia”, racconta. Spesso finiva presto la giornata e – contadino nato e cresciuto, poco incline al concetto di riposo – andava ad aiutare nel vigneto di famiglia. Quando suo zio morì, non c’era nessun altro che potesse prendere in mano il domaine – così decise di farlo lui, determinato a preservare l’eredità familiare. Scelse di tenere l’uva e iniziare a produrre vino con il nome di famiglia, desideroso di vedere gli sforzi dell’anno racchiusi in bottiglia. Sapeva come lavorare le vigne ma non aveva mai sognato di diventare vignaiolo – tuttavia, senza lasciarsi scoraggiare dalla sfida, imparò sul campo. Era il 2014, e i suoi vini si sono rapidamente guadagnati una reputazione nella regione. La cantina di famiglia aveva l’essenziale, ma le prime annate furono realizzate con il minimo indispensabile – con una nuova cantina costruita nel 2016 (Yves Cuilleron ha fornito consulenza al progetto). 
 Quasi un decennio dopo aver lasciato il mondo di tralicci, trasformatori e conduttori, la vita può seguire un ciclo annuale, ma resta tutt’altro che monotona. Nicolas lavora da solo e apprezza l’indipendenza che ciò comporta – gestendo il proprio tempo ed essendo il proprio capo. “C’è ancora molto da fare e ogni anno è diverso”, mi dice. Sperando che un giorno suo figlio si unisca a lui – nato nel 2009, suo zio mise da parte una riserva di vino di quell’annata, parte della quale verrà rilasciata per il suo 20º compleanno nel 2029. 
 Il cambiamento climatico è in cima ai suoi pensieri, con vendemmie ora a inizio settembre e persino agosto, rispetto a ottobre ai tempi dello zio. Se prima faticavano a raggiungere il 13% di alcol potenziale, oggi i suoi vini si attestano spesso al 14-14,5%. Ora lavora con inerbimento, defoglia meno e utilizza una piccola parte di grappolo intero negli anni più caldi per preservare la freschezza dei vini. Per il resto, poco è cambiato nel decennio da quando ha iniziato – continua a lavorare nel modo più semplice possibile, cercando di tradurre in vino le vigne tra cui è cresciuto. Ed è esattamente ciò che fa: i vini sono eleganti espressioni di Les Grandes Places, profumati e setosi, con un fine grip tannico e una salinità sapida sottostante, invecchiando magnificamente – come ha mostrato una mini verticale delle annate 2015, 2016 e 2017. I vini di Nicolas Champagneux 
 Dalle sue quattro ettari di vigne, Nicolas Champagneux produce tre vini: un IGP Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes La Rémise e due Côte-Rôtie, Les Grandes Places e La Dédicace, tutti realizzati al 100% con Syrah. 
 La Dédicace proviene dalle viti più giovani di Les Grandes Places, con una “modesta” età media di 40-60 anni. Circa 6.000-7.000 bottiglie vengono prodotte di questo “baby” Grandes Places. 
 Les Grandes Places proviene invece dalle viti più antiche, con una media di poco superiore ai 100 anni, alcune piantate nel 1910. Solo circa 1.500 bottiglie vengono prodotte di questo vino ogni annata. 
 Entrambi i Côte-Rôtie sono vinificati esattamente nello stesso modo, per lo più diraspati con una piccola parte di grappolo intero aggiunta nelle annate più calde e fermentati con lieviti indigeni, raggiungendo un massimo di 28-30°C e restando sulle bucce per circa tre settimane. Il vino trascorre poi 20-24 mesi in vecchie botti prima dell’imbottigliamento. Nicolas Champagneux Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places: una degustazione verticale 
 2022 Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places: Pieno di intensità speziata – chiodi di garofano e cardamomo insieme a un tocco di pepe di Szechuan. Il palato offre una succosità lussureggiante, stratificata con frutta scura concentrata di ciliegia e un accenno di tapenade nera, con tannini avvolgenti e il tutto rinfrescato da una linea di vivace acidità. Un neonato ora, da avvicinare dal 2030. 
 2021 Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places: Un 2021 davvero notevole, equilibrato e potente, il Les Grandes Places di Champagneux ha bisogno di aria ma rivela gradualmente spezie di pepe e delicati fiori di violetta. C’è però potenza e corpo al palato – più di quanto ci si aspetterebbe dal naso elegante, con una fermezza sapida, tannini flessibili ma strutturati e acidità succosa. È scuro e meditativo, gotico nei suoi toni floreali struggenti, con un lungo finale salino e appetitoso. Da approcciare dal 2027. 
 2017 Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places: Il 2017 Les Grandes Places combina delicati aromi floreali con una nota ferrosa e sanguigna al naso, che introduce un palato stratificato di frutti di rovo. I tannini sono rotondi, morbidi e setosi, con un’acidità vivace che attraversa la frutta concentrata, mentre il lungo finale è profumato di pepe bianco e violette. 
 2016 Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places: Questo 2016 è in uno stato splendido. Incenso intenso si fonde con frutta dolce di ciliegia e un tocco di fumo al naso, conducendo a un palato in cui ci si immerge – il vino è morbido e flessuoso, con onde di frutta dolce, ma il tutto tagliato da un bordo salino e sapido. Fresco e perfettamente equilibrato, da decantare e godere ora e per il prossimo decennio. 
 2015 Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places: Il più austero della trilogia 2015, 2016 e 2017, questa è un’annata potente e impressionante di Les Grandes Places – con tutte le migliori caratteristiche dell’anno. Il vino è scuro e profondo, compatto e ancora sorprendentemente primario, con profumi di ciliegia nera e mora. Al palato mostra però una purezza e un’intensità straordinarie, con una qualità cristallina della frutta, abbondante acidità a bilanciare la concentrazione e tannini fermi. Note affumicate e saline persistono in bocca, con un accenno di petali floreali nel finale. Da decantare se aperto ora, ma sarà ancora migliore se saprete aspettare qualche anno. 
 Esplora tutte le attuali etichette di Nicolas Champagneux, incluse varie annate precedenti, o leggi di più sul Rodano.

Sono passati quasi dieci anni da quando Nicolas Champagneux ha preso in mano le vigne di famiglia e ha iniziato a produrre vino con il suo nome, diventando la prima generazione a farlo. Abbiamo incontrato il vignaiolo per scoprire di più sulla sua storia e sul percorso intrapreso finora.

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Burgundy expert Jasper Morris MW has had his finger on the region’s wine pulse for several decades. Especially for FONDATA, he profiles eight domaines to watch, producers that are bringing vital energy and fresh winemaking talent to the celebrated wine region 

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James Suckling First out of the gate is James Suckling, who is in complete agreement with what we have been told by the châteaux and tasted so far: this is another great vintage for both the Left and Right Bank, forming the third in a trilogy of great vintages for Bordeaux. He writes, “The Médoc reds are closer in character to the 2019 vintage with more linear and finer tannins and precise, pure cabernet fruit while the Right Bank, particularly Pomerol and St.Emilion, is more like 2018 with reds that have more flamboyant fruit and creamier, densely ripe tannins.” While he had heard reports of heterogeneity, 90% of what he has tasted “show an outstanding quality level from first growths to petit chateaux”. He feels that Merlot has excelled, however there are plenty of outstanding wines in the Médoc too – indeed several worthy of perfect scores. Suckling’s highlights: Haut-Brion, Margaux, Mouton Rothschild, Lafite Rothschild, Hosanna, La Fleur-Pétrus, Smith Haut-Lafitte, Le Gay, L’Eglise-Clinet, Troplong-Mondot, Angélus, Ducru-Beaucaillou, L’Evangile, Trotte Vieille Read more of James Suckling’s thoughts on the vintage on his site Jane Anson – Decanter Jane Anson rates the 2020 vintage four out of five, similar in quality to 2018 but lower than the ’19 and ’16 vintages. While she believes the Right Bank is similar in style to 1989 or the 2018s, she feels the Left Bank has more in common with 1996, 2000 and 2006 due to the tannic profile caused by the dry summer months. “You will find plenty of racy, supple tannins that power forward and have a sense of energy, but also tannins that are a little dry and sometimes underripe if the drought led to blockages,” she says. Despite many similarities in terms of tannin concentration to 2010 and ’16, she feels overall the 2020 vintage is not as consistent as either of these years. For her, the biggest potential issue was this risk of unripe tannins, typically in the Cabernet Sauvignon, mostly affecting the Left Bank. While she notes that some properties’ second wines bear the brunt of this, she commends the exceptional efforts of La Croix Ducru-Beacaillou, Mondot and Blason de l’Evangile. She highlights, however, that 2020 continues a trend in the region, with the best wines performing “a sleight of hand from the vintage conditions” – something that she feels comes from “a confidence that I find in Bordeaux today, where there no longer seems to be the need to choose the biggest tannins for the main estate wine, and instead many choose to prioritise site expression.” All her potential 100-point wines (of which there are five) come from the Right Bank, bar Ch. Margaux which takes the title of wine of the vintage on the Left Bank, while Ch. Canon steals the top spot on the Right.  Anson’s highlights: Ausone, Bélair-Monange, Canon, Margaux, Cheval Blanc, Larcis-Ducasse, Rocheyron, La Gaffelière, Pontet-Canet, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Montrose, Calon Ségur, Lafleur, L'Evangile, Trotanoy, La Croix de Beaucaillou, Fleur Cardinale, La Serre, Le Prieuré, Durfort-Vivens, Les Perrières de Lafleur, Clos Puy Arnaud, Phélan Ségur, Domaine de l’Aurage Read more of Jane Anson’s thoughts on the vintage on the Decanter site Jancis Robinson MW, Julia Harding MW + James Lawther MW – jancisrobinson.com  The team at jancisrobinson.com has tackled the vintage as a trio – with James Lawther MW tasting in the region, and Julia Harding MW and Jancis Robinson MW herself tasting in the UK. Collectively, they’ve tasted their way through the majority of major releases, publishing a range of articles around the vintage including tasting reports on the Left Bank, Right Bank and white wines of Bordeaux 2020. Perhaps most refreshing to hear is a positive article on the “revolution” that is taking place in Bordeaux when it comes to precision viticulture leading to
“delightfully fresh, expressive, 'new old' wines”. As for 2020, “There are admittedly some stunningly good 2020s, even if [it] is not as consistent a vintage as 2019,” Robinson says. Lawther highlights the surprising freshness of the wines, positioning it somewhere between ’18 and ’19. The lower alcohol levels on the Left Bank “delightfully combine the classicism of traditional Bordeaux with modern winemaking and vine-growing sophistication”. Similarly to Anson’s report, Robinson feels some of the later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon wouldn’t have reached full maturity before the threat of early October storms forced
vignerons to pick by 30th September (something that didn’t impact the Right Bank with its earlier-ripening Merlot). She feels, however, the overall volume produced on the Left Bank allowed estates to be extremely selective, including only the finest lots in the Grand Vin. All in all, the team declares it a vintage that falls in favour of the Right Bank – with wines that have led Robinson herself to “[fall] back in love with” Saint-Emilion. On the Left, however, Robinson notes particular consistency in the wines of Graves/Pessac-Léognan,  jancisrobinson.com’s highlights: Lafleur, Margaux, Lafite Rothschild, Cos d’Estournel, Haut-Brion, Mouton Rothschild, Pétrus, Angélus, Pichon Baron, Vieux Château Certan, Montrose, Ausone, La Lagune, Léoville Barton, Prieuré-Lichine, Rauzan-Gassies, du Tertre, Kirwan, Canon, Figeac, Pavie Read the team's full report on jancisrobinson.com Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW – Wine Advocate For Wine Advocate’s Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, 2020 is “an enigma – a vintage that has been more difficult to understand than 2018 or 2019, with far more potential and, in some cases, greater growing season complexities than even 2017 (the year of the devastating frosts).” Despite comparisons with 2018, the wines are, in her view, very different. She highlights the differences between Left and Right Banks this year – with “more weight and generosity” in the latter, and more varied quality on the Left, noting that some from the Médoc lacked mid-palate weight. The key she thinks was the impact of the August rains: welcome relief for some, too late for others, and too much (therefore diluting the fruit) for certain properties in the Médoc in particular.  Overall she feels the variability brings 2020 in line with 2017 in some ways, however thinks that, at its best, the vintage is up alongside 2018 and 2019: “For some areas and terroirs, this is absolutely the third outstanding vintage.”  She notes that it is a simplification too far to declare it a Merlot vintage, as there are excellent wines from both Cabernets too. Pomerol and Saint-Emilion impressed her, while Fronsac and the Côtes de Castillon offer some great-value wines. Like us, she notes some outstanding performances from Pessac-Léognan. In the Médoc, she emphasises the importance of terroirs
with sufficient gravel to drain the August rains, as well as the budget and manpower to do the necessary work to manage the year’s challenging conditions. On the Right Bank, she characterises the best wines as “beautifully pure and perfumed expressions of ripeness”. Pessac is for her “staunchly earthy/savory”, while she warns some are dilute, the Médoc’s finest are “a paradox – lighter bodied, elegant, perfumed head-turners”.  Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW’s highlights: Smith Haut Lafitte, Haut Bailly, Haut-Brion, La Mission Haut-Brion, Clerc Milon, Mouton Rothschild, Pontet-Canet, Canon, Angélus, Trotanoy, Vieux Château Certan, Margaux, L’Eglise Clinet, Le Dôme, Le Tertre Roteboeuf, Pavie, L’Evangile, Rauzan-Ségla Read Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW's full report on Wine Advocate Neal Martin – Vinous   In his report for Vinous Neal Martin declares 2020 “an excellent vintage” and “the third in a trilogy of great vintages”. He feels it is “better than 2018 but doesn’t quite reach the peaks of 2019”.  While he describes 2018 as more hedonistic and 2019 elegant and purer, he believes the difference between 2019 and 2020 is marginal. “There are instances where 2020 will surpass 2018 and 2019,” he says, believing this will become clearer in bottle.  In his view, lower alcohols on the Left Bank have “allowed for greater expression of individual terroirs and more salinity in the wines”, but the finest examples are wines that also have great concentration. In contrast, the alcohol levels on the Right Bank are generally higher than in 2019 and the best wines of the vintage were those that managed to retain elegance. The 2020s’ slightly firmer tannins in general, Martin believes, will “merit long-term cellaring” compared to the 2019, which can be enjoyed earlier.    Martin highlights the cool nights in August and September as a key factor in determining the success of a Bordeaux vintage, helping the wines retain acidity – and 2020 had just this. These cool nights mean the wines have “excellent acidity levels that engender fresh wines with ample tension”.  As has been the case in the last three vintages, he has found greater consistency in the top hierarchy of wines, where the finer terroirs have kept the vines healthy through a challenging growing season. Despite this, he says there are “still a raft of excellent wines punching above their weight outside the famous appellations, representing outstanding value”.   Neal Martin’s highlights: Margaux, Trotanoy, La Mission Haut-Brion, Canon, Figeac, La Conseillante, L’Eglise Clinet, Lafite, La Gaffelière, Haut-Brion, Léoville Las Cases, Pichon Lalande, Mouton Rothschild, Vieux Château Certan, De Pez, Grand-Puy-Ducasse, La Bridane, Marojallia, La Voûte, Le Chemin, Latour-Martillac and Latour-Martillac Blanc  Read Neal Martin’s full report on Vinous  Jeb Dunnuck  Jeb Dunnuck is undeniably enthusiastic about 2020, declaring it “unquestionably a great vintage”.  For him, the wines more focused than 2018, but denser than 2019 – but feels it sits just behind these two and 2016 in the rankings. He notes that the early season rains have given the wines “a beautiful sense of purity”. As almost everyone has noted, it is this purity and freshness from such a warm vintage that is surprising.  He highlights the advantage of clay and limestone soils, as well as old vines. For him Pomerol is the star of the vintage (with “a bevy of legendary wines”), while Saint-Emilion and Pessac-Léognan also thrived. He found the Médoc less consistent (especially Margaux), with the best wines coming from further north in the region, where you’ll find “a swath of beautiful, elegant, ripe, classically styled wines”.   Jeb Dunnuck’s highlights: Trotanoy, Vieux Château Certan, La Fleur-Pétrus, Clinet, La Conseillante, Hosanna, Feytit-Clinet, L’Eglise Clinet, Clos L’Eglise, L’Evangile, Valandraud, Tertre Roteboeuf, Clos Fourtet, Larcis Ducasse, Belair Monange, Pavie Decesse, Canon, Troplong Mondot, Figeac, Pavie, La Mondotte, Pichon Comtesse, Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Pichon Baron, Lynch-Bages, Calon Ségur, Cos d’Estournel, Capbern, Phelan Ségur, Lafon-Rochet, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Léoville Las Cases, Léoville Poyferré, Beychevelle, Léoville Barton. Margaux, Rauzan-Ségla, Brane-Cantenac, D’Issan, Giscours, Malescot Saint Exupéry, Labégorce, Marquis d’Alesme, Haut-Brion, Pape Clément, Smith Haut Lafitte, Haut-Bailly, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, La Mission Haut-Brion and Domaine de Chevalier  Read the full report on jebdunnuck.com  Antonio Galloni – Vinous   Antonio Galloni is the last of the major critics to release his report on the Bordeaux 2020 vintage and was impressed by the “energy and vibrancy” of the year. While he believes 2020 is not as consistent as 2019 or even 2018, he does believe the best examples are “incredibly exciting” and “unquestionably dazzling” wines.   For Galloni, the most important signature of 2020 is “a balance of richness and energy” which he believes is “highly unusual”. From his interviews with winemakers, he surmises that the cold August/September nights, along with the high seed count in the berries are the reasons behind the freshness of the wines, making them “sizzle with brightness and mineral-drenched vibrancy”.   He identifies Pessac-Léognan as the most consistent appellation of the vintage, which benefitted most from summer rains. The Left Bank, more generally, he says is more about “linearity and persistence rather than volume”, providing the wines with a classic feel and notably lower alcohols. The châteaux situated on the limestone plateau of Saint-Emilion, he believes, produced some of the vintage’s most exciting wines, “defined by a soaring vertical energy”, in a notable positive shift away from an overreliance on opulence.  Antonio Galloni’s highlights: Haut-Brion, Margaux, Pavie, Angélus, Clos Fourtet, L’Eglise Client, La Mission Haut-Brion, Mouton-Rothschild, Pichon Baron, Trotanoy, Vieux Chateau Certain  Read Antonio Galloni’s full report on Vinous  Find out more about Bordeaux or read more Editorial

The Bordeaux châteaux – and the world’s wine lovers – are waiting for the critics to give their verdict on the 2020 vintage. We’ll be adding to this page as their reports are released – offering a summary of what each of these prestigious palates are saying about the vintage

Our round-up of what the world’s top tasters are saying about the Bordeaux 2020 en primeur vintage

What the critics are saying about Bordeaux 2020

Bordeaux 2020: what the critics are saying

William Kelley, Wine Advocate First out of the gate is William Kelley, who has taken over covering Bordeaux from Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW at Wine Advocate. He was keen to emphasise his methodology – having spent three weeks visiting over 250 châteaux throughout Bordeaux, tasting many of the wines on multiple occasions.  Kelley acknowledges the many challenges the vignerons faced in 2021 and while he admits 2021 is not a great vintage overall for the reds, it has “produced several genuinely great wines, as well as many good to excellent wines that will deliver immense pleasure”. He compares the lower levels of alcohol and concentration to vintages from the 1990s, while at the same time noting how the wines have greatly benefited from today’s “agronomic progress and technical savoir faire”: “Were the 2021s transposed to the decade of the 1990s,” he says, “they would be considered the product of a superb vintage.” The cooler growing season produced “a great vintage for whites” that he believes are the finest set of dry whites since 2017. Kelley’s highlights: Haut-Brion, Margaux, Ausone, Lafleur, Cheval Blanc, Lafite-Rothschild, Latour, Léoville Las Cases, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Laroque, Domaine de Chevalier Blanc and Palmer Read William Kelley’s full report on the vintage on the Wine Advocate Antonio Galloni, Vinous First up from team Vinous is Antonio Galloni who clearly loved the best wines of 2021, which he declares “a striking combination of old-school classicism and modern-day precision”. “The top properties turned out gorgeous, classically built wines that will absolutely thrill readers who appreciate freshness and energy,” he says. Of course, he cautions that quality isn’t consistent and selection is essential in the vintage.  He notes that it was those who could afford the significant labour required who excelled, while producers also benefitted from the experience of 2017 (for frost) and 2018 (for mildew), and better equipment and know-how in the winery is also a factor. He highlights that élevage will be key for the wines. Galloni feels it’s neither firmly a Left or Right Bank vintage, although finds a little more consistency on the Left, but perhaps greater highs on the Right. He’s one of several to note that the best white wines are “absolutely riveting” – combining the richness of a warm vintage with the freshness of a cooler year, with tiny yields of “compelling” sweets as well.  Galloni’s highlights: Beau-Séjour Bécot, Calon Ségur, Cheval Blanc, La Conseillante, L’Extravagant de Doisy-Daëne, Ducru-Beaucaillou, La Gaffelière, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Les Perrières, Pichon Comtesse, Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, Vieux Château Certan, Phélan Ségur, Léoville-Poyferré and Palmer Read Antonio Galloni’s full report on Vinous Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux This is the first vintage for ex-Decanter critic and Bordeaux resident Jane Anson publishing on her own site, Inside Bordeaux. She highlights the variable success overall of the 2021 vintage, but notes that there remain a good number of estates that have produced excellent wines. From an appellation point of view, she feels Saint-Estèphe was “a high point”, noting the drier August helped with the “natural concentration” found in the wines there. She also notes that Saint-Emilion made “some of the best wines of the vintage”, with the clay limestone soils found in certain spots “probably the most well-placed terroir overall to resist the challenges of the year”. Her top wines however spread across all regions of Bordeaux. Ch. Haut-Brion Blanc garnered the highest score of 98 points, while Ch. La Mission Haut-Brion from Pessac-Léognan, Figeac from Saint-Emilion, Lafleur from Pomerol and Lafite from Pauillac all scored 97 points along with Ch. Margaux’s Pavillon Blanc. Anson has given earlier drinking windows than a normal year because, despite the high levels of tannins, she notes “the structure is delicate”, advising that “you need to start drinking these while the fruits are at their best”. Anson’s highlights: Haut-Brion Blanc, La Mission Haut-Brion, Pavillon Blanc du Ch. Margaux, Lafleur, Lafite-Rothschild, Latour, Figeac Read Jane Anson’s full report on Inside Bordeaux Neal Martin, Vinous In his detailed report, Neal Martin runs through a “complex and turbulent growing season” before laying out the consequences in the winery. He emphasises how stressful the season was for the region’s vignerons. Overall he feels it’s “a welcome return to a classic style of Bordeaux” – with lower alcohol and ripeness levels, with the finest wines that “transcend expectations”.  That said he notes that they are a result of their challenging growing season, and it’s not a year that will “rank with the greats”; he didn’t find perfection. He did, however, find wines that are “remarkable” given the year – “testament to the effort and skill of winemakers and vineyard teams”. He highlights “a bevy of outstanding dry whites” and that quality amongst the reds varies significantly between estates. While not declaring a drinking window firmly, he suggests the best “may well reward patience” – and will be “fascinating to watch evolve in bottle”. In distinct contrast to the warm years that preceded it, 2021 is, he says, “bejewelled with wines that will offer immense pleasure”. Martin’s highlights: Lafleur, Haut-Brion Blanc, Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, Cheval Blanc, La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc, Lafaurie-Peyraguey, De Fargues, Lafite-Rothschild, Pétrus, Calon-Ségur, Haut-Brion, Vieux Château Certan, La Conseillante, Figeac Read Neal Martin’s full report on Vinous James Suckling After tasting the last 39 vintages in Bordeaux, James Suckling struggles to find comparable year to 2021, such are the anomalies of the vintage. He is struck by the “bright and fresh acidity and relatively low alcohol of the wines”, making them easy to read, while also having an “immediate drinkability”. While he notes 2021 is a very heterogeneous vintage – and has produced significantly less structured wines than 2018, 2109 and 2020 – there are some “delicious”, “acid-driven” reds. He has found more consistency in the whites and proposes, “the sweet wines of Bordeaux may be the miracle of the harvest”. Made in miniscule quantities, what little there is is sure to outlive the dry wines that he proposes will drink well young. His top-rated pick is the Sauternes estate of Ch. Lafaurie-Peyraguey, awarding the only potential 100-point score of the vintage. His other top wines all come from Pomerol and are the blue-chip stalwarts of Pétrus, Le Pin and Lafleur, all scoring 98-99 points. The only other wine awarded 98-99 is Domaine de Chevalier’s white. Suckling’s highlights: Lafleur, Le Pin, Pétrus, Laufaurie-Peyraguey, Domaine de Chevalier Blanc Read James Suckling’s full report on the vintage on his website Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, The Wine Independent Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW's 2021 Bordeaux report is the first for her new publication, The Wine Independent, launched earlier this year. Overall, she is more scathing than other critics, with some noticeably low scores across a much larger range (something that is intended to be a point of difference for The Wine Independent).She found the 2021 wines to be “variable”, with “dilution” and “under-ripeness omnipresent” but at their best are “refreshing, elegant, savory wines with lower alcohol and light to medium-bodied" with "well-sustained mid-palates and finishes”. She notes that it's a significant shift from recent vintages, which “may well be just what you are seeking. Or not.” She suggests drinkers who prefer lower-alcohol wines of vintages past may enjoy the lighter style of the vintage. Most notably, she believes the wines’ ability to age is lower than recent vintages and that most wines will reach their peak within 10 years. Where quality is at its highest, she believes low yields played a big factor in 2021. When drawing comparisons to similarly styled vintages, she likens the 2021 wines to 2013.  Looking at her top-rated wines, there seems to be a preference to the Right Bank with Ch. Ausone, Ch. Cheval Blanc and Ch. Lafleur all in her top band of scores (95-97 points). The white wines of Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte, Ch. Haut-Brion and Domaine de Chevalier also score highly, although she remarks that there were only a handful of whites in 2021 that really wowed her. Ch. Margaux is the highest scoring Left Bank red wine (also awarded 95-97 points). Perrotti-Brown’s highlights: Ausone, Cheval Blanc, Haut Brion Blanc, Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, Margaux, Lafleur Read Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW's full report on The Wine Independent Georgie Hindle, Decanter This is Georgie Hindle’s first vintage as Decanter’s official Bordeaux correspondent, after Jane Anson vacated the role last year. Overall, Hindle classified 2021 as a 3.5/5 vintage for the red wines and 4.5/5 for the dry whites and sweets. The challenging growing season, she notes, produced red wines of variable, uneven quality, while the whites and sweet wines were better suited to the cooler conditions. Having said that, she notes there were some “incredible wines produced in 2021”. Her favourite wine from the Médoc was Ch. Lafite-Rothschild. She also praised Ch. Haut-Brion from Pessac-Léognan, Ch. Figeac from Saint-Emilion and Ch. Lafleur from Pomerol. Hindle awarded her highest scores of the vintage (97 points) to the white wines of Ch. Haut-Brion and Ch. Margaux’s Pavillon Blanc. She notes that the top red wines offer a “cool classicism” and are “refined, elegant and low alcohol”. While very different in character to recent modern vintages, she says the best red wines are “supremely balanced and pleasurable”. She adds that they are “characterful with crisp red fruits, refreshing acidities and silky, well-integrated tannins as well as expressive of terroir”. Georgie Hindle’s highlights: Ch. Haut-Brion, Ch. Lafleur, Ch. Lafite-Rothschild, Ch. Haut-Brion Blanc, and Pavillon Blanc du Ch. Margaux Read Georgie Hindle’s full report on Decanter's website Jeb Dunnuck Jeb Dunnuck’s 2021 Bordeaux en primeur report remains upbeat for the top wines of the vintage – declaring it a “challenging but good” vintage, although (besides 2013) he feels it “checks in substantially behind recent vintages”.  For Dunnuck, the top wines are elegant and “shine for their purity and finesse more than their power and richness”. He notes that the 2021s are “incredibly transparent and convey their terroir and winemaking clearly” – for better or worse. For Dunnuck, the Graves reds have a better mid-palate and a touch more density than other appellations, although he doesn’t feel one region outshone another. While he heard many winemakers compare the vintage to classic cooler vintages of the 1980s and ’90s, he finds these comparisons unhelpful, considering the changes in viticulture and winemaking over the last 20 years. While he struggles to find any modern comparison for the reds, he believes the vintage has similar weight and concentration to the likes of 2004, 2007, 2014 and 2017. Dunnuck declares it an excellent vintage for white and sweet wines and his top-rated wines include Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc,Domaine de Chevalier Blancand Pavillon Blanc du Ch. Margaux. Dunnuck’s highlights: Haut-Brion, Pavie, Margaux, Lafleur, Latour, Ducru Beaucaillou, Figeac, Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, Pavillon Blanc du Ch. Margaux and Les Champs Libres Read Jeb Dunnuck’s full report on the vintage Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Inside Jeff Leve’s Bordeaux report for The Wine Cellar Insider is largely positive – with the caveat that it is not a vintage for everyone. Lovers of classic Bordeaux (“classic in a good way”), he believes however, will find plenty to enjoy in the wines. He found many of the red wines to exude “freshness, salinity, crisp red fruits, refreshing acidities, and low alcohol levels”. While he found some of the wines “trail off in the middle” and had “dusty tannins”, the wines generally had great attack, and were not underripe but “crisp, fresh and often savoury”. He found 2021 to be a special vintage for white wines, describing them as “extraordinary”, with a “gorgeous sense of purity as well as crisp, biting acidities”. His top four wines were all whites, with Haut-Brion Blanc receiving his only 100-point score. Ch. Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, Domaine de Chevalier Blanc and la Mission Haut-Brion Blanc were awarded 98 points. His top reds were Ch. Ausone, Lafite, Lafleur, Latour, Cheval Blanc and Margaux, all receiving 97 points. Leve’s highlights: Haut-Brion Blanc, Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc, Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, Margaux, Lafleur,  Latour, Ausone, Cheval Blanc and Lafite-Rothschild, Read The Wine Cellar Insider’s full report on the vintage Explore all Bordeaux 2021 listings or read more Editorial 

The world’s wine critics have been tasting and writing up notes for months, and are now offering their verdict on the 2021 vintage in Bordeaux. We offer a summary of what each of these prestigious palates has said about the vintage and the wines they rated most highly

The critics' verdict on the 2021 wine vintage in Bordeaux, with Jane Anson, Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, William Kelley, Antonio Galloni and more

What the critics are saying about Bordeaux 2021

Bordeaux 2021: what the critics are saying

Burgundy is a mecca for lovers of fine Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but, with its litany of producers and vineyards, it can be a tricky region to get to grips with. Here we offer an essential guide to the region – breaking down everything from how vineyards are classified to producers to look out for

Discover everything you need to know about Burgundy: from vineyards and producers to the difference between négociant and domaine or what a Grand Cru is

Your essential guide to Burgundy wine

Your essential guide to Burgundy

Famille Savary

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