Bordeaux 2021 in bottle: Overview and top-scoring wines

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Bordeaux 2021: 3.5/5 [/breakout]

‘2021 is a vintage that has subtle charm, energy, and, ultimately, drinking pleasure but it is not a vintage full of exoticism or exuberance’ [breakout]

Bordeaux 2021: wines of the vintage Left Bank: Château Lafite Rothschild, Pauillac Premier Cru Classé Pessac-Léognan: Château Haut-Brion Premier Cru Classé Right Bank: Château Figeac, St-Emilion Premier Grand Cru Classé 'B'

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Scroll down to see tasing notes and scores for selection of 40 top-scoring Bordeaux 2021 wines [subscriber-content]The year that had everything: black frost, hail, abundant rainfall, mildew, uneven fruit set, a cool summer, botrytis, the need for increased labour, protracted harvests and subsequent difficult decisions about blends, oak treatment and length of ageing (some opted for longer, some shorter, with varying percentages of new oak). Yes, 2021 was far from easy, and while growers were happy if they ultimately harvested healthy grapes, or any at all, the agonising production decisions have only recently ended. The 2021 vintage can loosely be summarised as a happy surprise for those who have made enjoyable wines. During the en primeur tastings in spring 2022, the wines could be characterised as fresh and lively with a return to a more classic Bordeaux construction following several sunny, heat-filled years. The challenging weather conditions meant many wines had less plush fruit and more acidity on show, slightly leaner body with more evident estate and terroir characteristics. It certainly wasn’t, and isn’t, a vintage full of exoticism, exuberance, plushness or substance, but one that has subtle charm, energy, finesse, balance and ultimate drinking pleasure. [breakout]

2021 at a glance This is not a vintage to buy blind, with patchy quality and a number of disappointing wines. It was a year beset with climatic and logistical challenges that on paper might have suggested catastrophe, but in the end, time in bottle has favoured producers with sufficient resources or who didn’t attempt to override the intrinsic character of the vintage. [/breakout]

Highs and Lows [caption id="attachment_524379" align="alignnone" width="630"] Credit: Luke Carver[/caption] After retasting more than 600 wines so far, my verdict remains roughly the same. There are some stunning wines in 2021, many entirely refuting the notion of a weak or overly light vintage. The best show ample strength if not overt weight, with broad and solid structures, well-integrated tannins, vibrancy and freshness. They strike the balance of juiciness, elegance and total drinkability with restrained alcohols and seem to adequately combine old-school cool classicism (think pre-2000s) with modern-day precision and detail. However, while Bordeaux is arguably at its apex of winemaking – able, as one winemaker put it, to ‘make a great wine in any vintage these days’ – there are no 100-point wines, or even 99s or 98s. Though there are some that get close to the latter – I hesitated slightly when assessing them against their estates’ previous and subsequent vintage renditions. Indeed, beyond the top wines, the 2021 vintage is inconsistent and uneven, and plaudits are reserved for only a small portion of the region’s wines – this is not a vintage to buy blind, or to look to second wines as a general rule. It’s neither a Left or Right Bank vintage, with successes and failures on both sides – although the longest-lived may prove to be among those from the Left. Recent tastings of these wines – some as early as November 2023, others as late as February 2024 – were confounding; some had improved on their en primeur scores – there are 15 flagged with ‘Upscore’ at the start of their tasting note – while others seemed entirely different wines. Time in barrel has rewarded and nourished some wines, enhancing roundness, sweetness and body; but it has punished others by stripping them bare, revealing hollow mid-palates and leaving dry finishes – length and toast levels needed to be controlled carefully in 2021. There is of course the key factor of the quality of fruit at harvest, but it seems early youth was more flattering to some wines than the ageing process has been, with an abundance of lean and austere acidities, noticeable mildew in the worst, and sometimes green unripe notes mingled with massy and dry tannins where harvest dates weren’t judged right and/or extraction was overdone. COMING SOON: Notes and scores for more than 400 Bordeaux 2021s re-tasted in-bottle Welcome Contrast [caption id="attachment_524378" align="alignnone" width="630"] Credit: Luke Carver[/caption] The impact of the vintage conditions obviously plays a part, but I far preferred wines – and commented as much – that weren’t ‘trying too hard’, or those that allowed the nature of the vintage to be expressed, rather than trying to overcompensate by pushing the maturity or body-building the palate. The fact is, 2021 simply couldn’t be a 2020 or 2022, and those who understood that, or were blessed with more favourable conditions, better resources or a combination of any number of factors, have been successful. It’s hard to generalise, as with any vintage, but the 2021s absolutely have their place at the table – perfect for restaurant wine lists, for example – and will be delicious to drink and finish the bottle. The 2021 vintage wines are crunchy, vibrant and totally moreish, and will provide a welcome contrast to the bigger, bolder, more confident hotter vintages that surround it. There’s no doubt in my mind that many are worth buying; however, fortunately my job isn’t to tell you when to buy, as that seems the biggest question on people’s lips. The current state of the market is precarious and many wines are difficult to sell, not least these 2021s, which had relatively bullish prices en primeur that theoretically will now increase with the wines in bottle. The feeling outside Bordeaux seems largely to be ambivalent, and it may be that consumers have to wait 10 years or so before these wines start to look like ‘good value’ against neighbouring vintages 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022, which are likely to see dramatic price rises. They shouldn’t, however, be damned by price: value is relative, but quality is certainly there to be found in the best. [/subscriber-content] Bordeaux 2021 in-bottle: Magazine selection Wines are listed in alphabetical order by score [wine-collection] Related articles Bordeaux 2021: Our en primeur verdict Bordeaux 2021 campaign falls into 'predictable chaos' Best dry white Bordeaux 2021 wines tasted en primeur Buy tickets for Château Haut-Brion Masterclass in NYC