Best St Julien 2019 wines tasted en primeur

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One of the driest summers for the last 30 years in St Julien, with the berries at Lagrange the smallest for the past 36 years, and correspondingly high levels of Cabernet Sauvignon everywhere – 84% at Léoville Barton, 80% at Lagrange (the highest ever), 69% at Talbot (also highest ever), 79% at Saint-Pierre and 80% at Ducru Beaucaillou.

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The wines themselves were extremely consistent, a truly great year here, with lots of high scores at the 95-plus range.

The two wines up at 98 points are Las Cases and Ducru (and if either is a potential 98-100 it’s Ducru) and four at 95-97.

I would particularly draw your attention to Lagrange, one of the best ever at the estate and really one to look out for.

There are a whole host of wines at my ‘strong buy signal’ level of 94 points – Gloria for example is absolutely brilliant, as is Langoa Barton, La Croix Ducru and Beychevelle.

Yields

Average yields in the appellation were 45.5hl/ha, just a little over last year, with individual chateaux coming in at 48.5hl/ha at Léoville Poyferré, 39hl/ha at St Pierre, 40hl/ha at Talbot, 40hl/ha at Lagrange, 37hl/ha at Gloria and 50hl/ha at Beychevelle.

Changes

In terms of what’s new, the work on the new cellar at Las Cases had to be halted due to Covid-19 just as the ground was broken, but should be completed in 2021.

Over at Léoville Poyferré, the Cuveliers are celebrating 100 years of ownership, as the Cordiers did at Talbot with the 2018 vintage.

There has also been a changing of the wine guard over at Ducru Beaucaillou; they have introduced a new Haut-Médoc called Madame de Beaucaillou and changed the name of Lalande-Borie to Le Petit Ducru (as I say in the tasting note, this was one of my absolute value picks in the appellation, so I am a little sad to learn this, but the wine still tastes great).

Prices

Overall, now that prices are starting to come out, I would give a strong recommendation to some of the smaller names in St Julien, because it is looking like there are some real opportunities to get great wines at reasonable prices.

Top Scoring

Ducru Beaucaillou, Las Cases, Léoville Barton, Léoville Poyferré, Lagrange

Best Value

Gloria, Moulin de la Rose, Les Ormes, Fleur Lauga (a real success in the vintage and one to look out for).

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The following wines have all been scored 93 points and above

Not yet tasted: Château Gruaud-Larose, Château Moulin Riche, Château Lalande

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