Bordeaux 2020 in de pers

Ook dit jaar hebben wijnrecensenten weer uitgebreide aandacht besteed aan het nieuwste oogstjaar 2020 in Bordeaux. We verzamelden de meest treffende quotes van de wijnrecensenten om een goed beeld te schetsen van het oogstjaar.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Lisa Perrotti Brown)

"2020 is an irregular vintage that is perhaps on a par with 2017 in terms of the variability of quality; however, the peaks of quality far exceed 2017 and are right up there with the best of 2018 and 2019. Therefore, for some areas and terroirs, this is absolutely the third outstanding vintage in this trio."

"Calling this a Merlot vintage oversimplifies the situation. Great Cabernets were also produced, but with less consistency. Success this year was largely down to location, luck of the rains and terroir."

"The Saint-Émilion plateau and other areas of Saint-Émilion and the satellites with limestone and/or clay-based soil profiles also had a distinct advantage this year, and it shows with wonderful consistency and singular expressions."

"Pomerol fared relatively well and with surprising consistency in my tastings."

"A lot of the Cabernet Franc grown in Saint-Émilion is astonishingly gorgeous this year."

"Fronsac and the Côtes de Castillon also deserve a shout-out, their limestone and clay soil profiles pulling even some very humble properties through the dry/hot periods nicely and producing some great value wines."

"Generally the quality [in Pessac-Léognan] is also consistent, and the results are potentially through-the-roof good."

"It’s mainly an earlier-drinking vintage for dry whites, with moderate aging potential."

"The best wines of the Médoc are a paradox—lighter bodied, elegant, perfumed head-turners! They would fool you into thinking that they come from a far cooler vintage."

Vinous (Neil Martin)

"The truth is that generally the 2020 does form the third in a trilogy of great vintages after 2018 and 2019. Two-thousand twenty is better than 2018 but doesn’t quite reach 2019’s peaks. … There are instances where 2020 will surpass 2018 and 2019."

"Generally, the best wines exhibit pure, mainly black and often blue fruit aromas."

"Slightly firmer tannins (IPT levels are quite high) and fewer creamy textures."

"Lower alcohol often reveals more salinity and greater expression of individual terroirs."

"It was an inconsistent vintage away from the top of the hierarchy."

"The [Pessac-Léognan] whites, the 2020 vintage is very good, but I would not term it great."

"Clearly in 2020, the best Saint-Émilions stand as some of the snow-capped peaks of the vintage."

"The appellation of Margaux is one of the success stories of 2020."

"Pessac-Léognan is one of the success stories of 2020."

"I found these 2020 [Sauternes] sweet wines to be pure, well balanced and approachable."

Vinous (Antonio Galloni)

"The 2020s impress for a combination of energy and vibrancy that is hugely appealing."

"Pessac-Léognan is the most successful appellation as a whole."

"…many fabulous wines on both the Left and Right Banks, but on a château-by-château basic."

"Especially on the Left Bank, many wines feel super-classic, with mid-weight structures and low-ish alcohol levels that have not been seen in a number of years."

"I don’t see the consistency of 2019 or possibly even 2018, and yet the best 2020s are incredibly exciting. These may very well be wines that only truly blossom with many years in bottle."

"The most important signature of 2020 is a balance of richness and energy that is highly unusual."

"In fact, these [Saint-Émilions on the limestone/plateau] are some of the most exciting wines of the vintage, as they offer a breathtaking interplay of fruit richness and saline intensity."

"I can’t say 2020 is an exceptional vintage for Bordeaux’s dry whites, but it is a very good year."

James Suckling

"I can already say that the 2020 vintage is an excellent one and compares favorably to 2019 and 2018."

"In general, the 2020 Bordeaux reds show plenty of fruit, but not too much, and the tannins are ripe and polished giving excellent length to the wines. I find the wines, so far, to be slightly less flamboyant than the 2018s and more along the lines of the 2019s that had fantastic freshness and linear phenolic character."

"After tasting more than 400 barrel samples from the 2020 vintage, I can 100% confirm that it is another great year for Bordeaux. The 2020 vintage marks a rare trilogy of excellent vintages that produced wines at the same or very close quality level across the board from great named chateaux to lesser-known estates."

"I am also starting to see a pattern in my tastings of 2020 barrel samples that the Medoc reds are closer in character to the 2019 vintage with more linear and finer tannins and precise and pure cabernet fruit character while the Right Bank, particularly Pomerol and St.Emilion, is more like 2018 with reds that have more flamboyant fruit and creamier and more densely ripe tannins."

"It seems to be a merlot vintage to me, if I take into consideration the superb quality of wines made in appellations on the Right Bank such as Pomerol and St.-Emilion as well as more merlot-focused districts such as Margaux in the Medoc."

Jancis Robinson (Jancis Robinson / Julia Harding / James Lawther)

Het eerste artikel van Jancis Robinson over de rechteroever in 2020 staat online. Spoedig zal Jancis Robinson ook over de linkeroever en witte wijnen publiceren.

"In very general terms, this most recent vintage seems to have been more successful, or at least more consistent, [on the right bank] than on the left bank."

"The wines are so much fresher and more expressive than they used to be."

"Most of the better St-Émilions clearly have pretty impressive tannins."

"The Graves/Pessac-Léognan group were pretty consistent."

"Most of these dry white wines seemed fresh and crisp enough – in some cases because of a dominance of Sauvignon Blanc."

"The quality and character of the sweet 2020 whites varies considerably but the sweet white Bordeaux vintage was by no means a write-off."

“[the Sauternes] have remarkable purity with a super-balanced kind of togetherness that will make them adorable young to medium term and could possibly surprise us long term”

Decanter (Jane Anson)

"You can expect to find either racy, elegant tannins that power forward and give a sense of energy and direction, or tannins that are a little dry and sometimes underripe, particularly if the drought led to blockages. Alcohols in 2020 are almost invariably lower compared to both 2018 and 2019."

"As clay-limestone soils did brilliantly, look for value in Castillon, Francs and Fronsac."

"Tread carefully with second wines in particular, even at the very top, because of the high tannic content that can sometimes stray way too close to the closing the whole thing down."

"A highly successful vintage in St-Emilion, with some of the wines of the vintage, particularly on clay-limestone soils."

"In terms of comparisons, Anson says the Left Bank wines are most like 1996, 2000 and 2006 with ‘big tannins that are a little unwieldly at times, not generous but with potential’. For the Right Bank a comparison to 1989 seems ‘reasonable’ with 2020 also having more in common with 2018 there than on the other side of the river."

Wine Enthusiast (Roger Voss)

"Bordeaux is on a roll. The 2020 vintage is the third in a trilogy of great years. While 2018 wines are massive with high alcohol, and 2019 more restrained, 2020 is the year classicism came back to Bordeaux."

"The 2020 wines have beautiful fruit, tannins that float in the wine and shining acidity."

"There are no hard tannins to get through, as the wines are impressively velvety. And yet, along with all the fine fruit and stunning acidity, there’s structure, density and great promise for the future."

"Some of the finest wines come from Merlot and Cabernet Franc in Saint-Emilion and from Cabernet Sauvignon in Pauillac and Saint-Estèphe. Things are more mixed in Margaux and Pessac-Léognan."

"Sauternes seems to have lost crop and intensity, although attractive lighter wines were made."

"Dry whites from Sauternes and Pessac-Léognan are balanced while also rich."

Perswijn (Ronald de Groot)

"2020 is weer een goede jaargang voor Bordeaux. Dat geldt vooral voor de elegante wijnen, zoals de beste wijn van de heuvels rond Saint-Émilion, het plateau van Pomerol, de topwijn uit Saint-Julien en de betere wijn van Pessac-Léognan. Het is een jaar dat vraagt om een voorzichtige vinificatie, met het accent op fruit en elegantie."

"Een jaargang met een goed, maar ook nogal uiteenlopend karakter. Van rijp en uitgebalanceerd tot overrijp en extractief. Een mooie jaargang, maar ook een puzeel. Het is die interactie tussen weer en ondergrond die het zo spannend maakt waar de beste wijnen kunnen worden gemaakt - en dat is soms gewoon een loterij."

"Stéphane Derenoncourt: "De rive droite als geheel is zeer geslaagd, met grote Pomerol van het plateau en fantastische wijnen van de Côtes van Saint-Émilion. Fronsac en Castillon profiteerden ook.""