Everyone who loves Bordeaux probably knows by now that 2019 is an excellent quality vintage. The winemakers have always said it. The key wine critics agree. And so do the few wine merchants and consumers who tasted the barrel samples. 

I personally tasted 1,037 samples of 2019 Bordeaux barrel samples in Hong Kong and I must say I love the vintage. I love how it shows such harmony and precision with classical proportions of ripe fruit, good acidity and fine tannins. It depends on the wines but they remind me of 2016s and 2015s with their new classicism in nature and style. They are all like some of the classic years of the 1980s such as 1989 or 1985 but with much more depth and poise. They are less flashy and concentrated than say 2010 or 2009 or even 2000, perhaps more like 2005, if you want to compare 2019 to a year in that era. 

Check out my various stories including my first impressions and a roundup with all my scores and a number of Zoom interviews with wine producers:

Bordeaux en primeur first report: A potentially challenging vintage
Bordeaux en primeur second report: 1,000 notes and scores
Pricing report: Pontet-Canet’s decision to slash its prices
Haut-Brion makes the perfect 2019
Best of Bordeaux 2019: Top 10 St.-Estephe wines

Many people are asking me what wines I recommend buying. It feels a little bit like the stock market as there’s a FOMO feeling to the whole thing. The price reductions have definitely made En Primeur attractive, regardless if they were priced too high in the past or if the wines will actually be more expensive to buy when they are released in the market in two years. 

“Overall, the market feedback is very strong on the top names that are well priced,” said Mathieu Chadronnier, managing director at CVBG, the second largest negociant in Bordeaux. “This is turning out to be a very positive campaign so far. One that serves well the purpose of promoting great Bordeaux wines.”

Some wine merchants are even surprised. “It’s a year that we can actually sell en primeur,” said Jo Purcell, head of the Hong Kong office of Farr Vintners, a London-based fine wine merchant. “Who’d have thought it?”

Added Eric Desgouttes, general manager at Kerry Wines: “The demand has been excellent. I always said let the market decide if it wanted the 2019. And it has.”

Just about every key chateau has cut prices and some have cut prices as much as a third compared to 2018 En Primeur prices. Most have only released a limited number of wines (first tranche) and some have sold out quickly such as first growths Lafite and Mouton and highly revered and well-priced names such as Pontet-Canet and Haut-Bailly. The quantities range from about 25 percent to 50 percent of their production.

If you want to see my top rated wines, then take a look here. However, I also put together this list of my Top 10 Best Value En Primeur 2019 taking into consideration quality (my ratings), opening and current prices, decrease in prices from 2018, and market position. The latter is based on how I view the chateau’s reputation in the marketplace.

I only looked at my top rated wines that currently sell for less than £40 a bottle or £480 for a case of 12 bottles. All the pricing data comes from the London-based fine wine trading platform Liv-ex. The key determinant was current price per case (12 bottles) as of June 19 on Liv-ex and score followed by my perceptions in quality, pricing and demand now and in the future. 

Best value buys from Bordeaux 2019 en primeur

I believe that Château Malescot-St.-Exupéry Margaux 2019 is the best buy at the moment, not only due to the excellent price of about £30 a bottle on Liv-ex but also because it has a solid reputation in the market. Owner Jean-Luc Zuger is a solid winemaker and extremely hands-on making reds with precision and soul. I was impressed with his opulent 2018 last year from barrel (97-98 points) but the 2019 is very close (96-97 points) and more classical in style. It should end up at the same quality level as the superb 2016 and 2017 (both 97 points.) 

By comparison, the Chateau d’Issan at no. 2 is about the same quality but it’s the best wine I have tasted from the dusty old chateau in a long, long time (96-97 points.) Granted, it’s not a great buy like the Malescot but there’s something that says to me this may be the best Issan ever. Its sleek structure and poised attitude make it a real new classic. About £35 per bottle on Liv-ex is not going to break the bank for just about anyone and there should be upside in the future with such an impressive history.

Phelan Segur at no. 3 in my list is better value than d’Issan at £27 a bottle, but it doesn’t have the pedigree of third growths d’Issan or Malescot. But I have little doubt that this is the best wine ever from the St.-Estephe estate. It’s depth and polish are moving towards the best names of the appellation, even Calon Segur, Montrose and Cos. I have met owner and business magnate Philippe Van de Vyvere a number of times and he is determined to make Phelan a showcase chateau in the Northern Medoc. He is on his way.

The Château Giscours Margaux 2019 at no. 4 shouldn’t be much of a surprise. The winery is making outstanding wines every vintage and this year it nailed it with a wine of impressive concentration and balance. It’s never broken the 96-points barrier in my tastings except with the legendary 1970. I think the 2018 could do so, as I rated it 96-97 points last year from barrel, but 2019 could also. The 23 percent cut from the 2018 price as reported on Liv-ex was appreciated by the market as well.

No. 5, however, was one of the hottest buys this year due to Branaire-Ducru’s slashing of its price by 25 percent. About £29 a bottle on Liv-ex is steal for a 95-96 point wine; the St.-Julien estate made yet another classy and refined red. I am curious to see which vintage will be better in the end here, 2018 or 2019. However, I have my doubts if it can break out of the 95-point quality space despite the hard work.

The Château Faugères St.-Emilion 2019 at no. 6 seems to be on a quality roll at the moment. It’s price to quality ratio is clearly the best in the list and it’s one of the few 2019s trading on Liv-ex that has upside already with an increase of 4 percent from its release price. The 2015, 2016 and 2018 are all on the quality level of 2019 suggesting a solid quality level for the future and perhaps an increase in perception in the market as well as demand. The price of about £24 a bottle is more than reasonable.

At no. 7, Château Haut-Bages-Libéral Pauillac 2019 is off the radar for many mainstream wine traders and consumers. Maybe it’s because of owner Claire Villars Lurton’s dedication to biodynamic viticulture and organic winemaking at her properties. But regardless of her dedication to the genre she is making excellent wines at all of her estates. And they have a transparency and focus combining an old wine feel of the 1950s with the new vinous style of today. The bottle price of £23 on Liv-ex is a steal.

Villars Lurton also makes my no. 8 wine, Château Ferrière Margaux 2019, which is made under the same provisions and protocols of holistic winemaking as any of her wines. Part of the wine is even made in amphora. But as new as this may sound for a tradition-bound place like Bordeaux, it produces a solid and traditional-styled wine that shows depth and precision. That’s why I rated it 95-96 points. It’s £25 a bottle, according to Liv-ex. 

The no. 9 Château Malartic-Lagravière Pessac-Léognan 2019 is a pound or so more a bottle than the Ferrière and equally attractive as a value buy. This is probably the best red ever made from here and shows a new-found focus and precision as it moves away from power and ripeness to elegance and structure. The 2019 (95-96 points) is already in the range of the excellent 96-points 2015 and 2016 but it could possibly be better after aging in the cellar and bottling. Just under £26 a bottle on Liv-ex is an excellent purchase.

Finally at no. 10, the excellent quality of the Château Batailley Pauillac 2019 highlights the hard work of owner Philippe Casteja and his team in revitalizing the wines of this fifth-growth property. The recent addition of a second wine and better management in vineyards and the cellar have yielded excellent and precise new wines. And they sell for reasonable prices with the 2019 at about £28 a bottle on Liv-ex.

I don’t think anyone is going to be disappointed buying some of these wines as en primeur. No one can guarantee significant price appreciation over the next two years considering the difficult situation we are all in with COVID and the volatility of the global economy. It did happen with the 2008 vintage, which saw serious price cuts for En Primeur due to the global financial crisis. So, there’s a good chance of price appreciation over the next year or two and onwards.

Regardless, the worse-case scenario is that you will be drinking some well-priced beautiful reds in the future from the 2019 vintage.

– James Suckling, CEO & editor

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