Best Sauternes & Barsac 2019 wines tasted en primeur

See all Sauternes and Barsac 2019 en primeur wines

There are some great wines to choose from here and, as ever, some truly excellent dry whites.

Winemakers had to wait for noble rot to set in, after beautiful summer conditions that lasted well until late September. The botrytis cinerea eventually developed in early October, on already concentrated grapes, resulting in luscious flavours.

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There were dangers though – Château de Fargues sets out the issues many had to face in their vintage report: ‘Within several days, the berries reached wonderful concentration. Unfortunately, sour rot set in even faster. There was a race against time to sort the grapes as quickly as possible’.

At de Fargues one third of the grapes were botrytised and picked, while the other two thirds were afflicted with sour rot, and therefore left on the ground. But by October 16 , the vast majority of the grapes were safe.

Having said that, these winemakers are some of the most talented in Bordeaux, well used to challenges, and among the best estates, I found 2019 to be not only rich and concentrated but also precise, with high aromatics and balanced overall.

Yields

The average yield of the classified growths this year was 10hl/ha – under half the allowable maximum yield of 25hl/h in these appellations (which itself is around half most red wine AOCs).

Scores

There are two wines that scored 98 points with Lafaurie Peyraguey and Extravagance de Doisy Daene, both real standouts, but there’s also a good crop at 97 and in total nine estates coming in at over 95 points.

The ‘strong buys’ at 94 points include Bastor Lamontagne, Haut Peyraguey and the dry white S de Suduiraut.

Top Scoring

Extravagence de Doisy Daene, Doisy Daene, Doisy Vedrines, de Fargues, Lafaurie Peyraguey, Coutet, Guiraud, Sigalas Rabaud, Raymond-Lafon.

Best Value

La Tour Blanche, Domaine de l’Alliance, Equisse

See the top-rated Sauternes and Barsac 2019 wines

The following wines have all been scored 94 points and above

Not yet tasted: Château d’Yquem, Château Rieussec, Château Rabaud-Promis, Château Filhot, Château Lamothe-Guignard, Château de Myrat, Clos Dady, Château de Veyres, Château Liot, Château La Clotte-Cazalis,Château Romer

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