Pauillac and St. Julien Lead the Way for Bordeaux Reds, Plus Opulence from China: Weekly Tasting Report (Dec 28-Jan 3)

The Bordeaux reds that we tasted over the last week in this report are pointing toward a great year for Pauillac and St. Julien and we haven’t even reviewed such names as Mouton, Latour or Lafite. But chateaus such as Pichon-Baron, Pichon Lalande, Lynch-Bages (see their scores in last week’s report), and even Langoa Barton have made some stellar wines in 2020.

I think it’s the superlative soils of vineyards like this that have really helped to make great wines in the hot 2020 vintage. As I have written before, the paradox is that Bordeaux experienced one of its most severe droughts ever during the summer, with almost 50 days of no rain – or only a few drops –  from about mid-June to mid-August. Most winemakers worried that they would have a high-alcohol harvest with shriveled and sugar-rich grapes. Yet the wet weather during most of the first half of the year enabled the best vineyards with great soils to maintain moisture. They were the terroirs high in clay or limestone that traditionally make the best wines in the region.

This is also why so many outstanding wines were made in Pomerol and St. Emilion, and also came from the best terroirs in Pessac-Leognan. Check out the top ratings in this report for Pape Clement, for example.

It's going to be fun to see what regions did the best in 2020. We will crunch the numbers, but I am happy to report that the best wines seem to be a nice combination of the fresh and vivid character of the 2019s and some of the plushness of the 2020s. We have a few more wines to taste in our office in Hong Kong before going to Bordeaux in late March to taste more of the top names.

Also in this report are some wines from one of the top domains of Portugal, Quinta do Vale Meao. There are three wines, and the top red is one of the most elegant and beautifully structured wines from the Douro Valley.

READ MORE TOP 100 WINES OF FRANCE 2022

CHINA SCORES BIG

China also contributed some great wines to our report this week, with eight highly rated bottles scoring from 94 to 96 points. They came from three of the most consistent producers in the country, with the wines’ quality augmented by the two relatively dry and warm vintages they came from. These are wines with serious structure and depth that still check the boxes for balance and freshness.

One of the wines, the Helan Qingxue Vineyard Ningxia Jiabeilan Grand Reserve 贺兰晴雪加贝兰特别珍藏 2019, is a special barrel selection from the already very impressive Helan Qingxue Vineyard Ningxia Jiabeilan Reserve 贺兰晴雪酒庄加贝兰珍藏版 2019 that shows more Bordeaux-like finesse than most of its cabernet peers in Ningxia.

This is a ripe, opulent and hedonistic offering that still shows a lot of poise with good freshness and structure. More important, though, is the delivery of the silky, melted tannins, according to Helan Qingxue’s winemaker and co-founder, Zhang Jing.

“I always look for more depth in my wine, but freshness is the prerequisite. I pick early but it is also crucial to pick at the right time – not too early,” Zhang said in a phone call with Senior Editor Zekun Shuai. The earlier picking in Ningxia results in wines that are more refined and layered rather than overly concentrated and ripe.

READ MORE TOP 100 WINES OF CHINA 2021

The other two Chinese wineries that rose to the top of over the past week are from Huailai County in Hebei Province – a region that has the same potential that Mendoza, Argentina, did in the 1990s, when its big move for quality began with the emergence of Catena Wines, among other producers, until Mendoza finally hit its stride in the late 2010s.

Domaine Franco-Chinois is China’s first grower of marselan, a variety that is now widely planted in the country and which may one day prove to be China’s signature grape, while its sister winery, Canaan, delivers excellent wines with Bordeaux varieties as well as syrah and tempranillo. Senior Editor Zekun Shuai said 2017, which was also a warm and dry year, was one of the greatest vintages he has tasted from the two.

Zhao Desheng is the winemaker for both Domaine Franco-Chinois and Canaan, and he also leads the winemaking team for Canaan’s Chapter and Verse project. His Domaine Franco Chinois Huailai Reserve 中法庄园珍藏 2017, Chapter and Verse Syrah Huailai Reserve 诗百篇珍藏西拉 2017 and Chapter and Verse Merlot Huailai Reserve 诗百篇珍藏美乐 2017 are among the very best wines in China, all showing exceptional aging potential and character, underscored by their firm yet fine tannins and length. 2017 is a vintage that delivered more structured reds compared with the equally ripe and plush 2019, which has a bit more opulence and flesh.

One of the top wines from 2019 Zekun tasted was the Chapter and Verse Chardonnay Huailai Reserve 诗百篇珍藏霞多丽 2019, a dead ringer for a fine Burgundy white and a something Zhao had craved making for a long time. In 2021, Zhao and his team also did some experiments with different clones of pinot noir as well as some skin-contact whites. The Chapter and Verse Riesling Huailai Skin Contact White Wine 诗百篇探索系列重塑之书雷司令 2021 and Chapter and Verse Huailai Skin Contact White Blend 诗百篇探索系列重塑之书混白葡萄酒 2021 are excellent orange wines, the former of which was macerated for four weeks in 500-liter amphora then aged in neutral oak barrels. The Skin Contact White Blend is a melange of muscat, chardonnay, chenin blanc, ehrenfelser and muller Thurgau, and it spent six weeks on skins in stainless steel tanks. Zhao believes that the muscat gives it floral perfumes, the chardonnay delivers weight and a “canvas,” with the chenin providing acidity and texture. The muller thurgau and ehrenfelser, he said, give it more fruit and complexity.

– James Suckling, Editor/Chairman, and Zekun Shuai, Senior Editor

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by James Suckling and the other tasters at JamesSuckling.com. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.

Note: You can sort the wines below by country, vintage, score and alphabetically by winery name. You can also search for specific wines in the search bar.