A fter aging for more than two years in their French cellars, the 2021 Bordeaux are arriving in British Columbia and will be ready to release into BCLIQUOR on September 28 th , 2024. As a Category Manager who had only tasted the ’21s in their extreme youth, it is interesting for me to see how they are now developing, gaining complexity and shaping into wines of character and regionality. Like all buyers who purchase Bordeaux en primeur , I’ve learned how to assess quality and extrapolate the wines’ future progress. Nonetheless, each year brings exciting surprises. In the modern context of rising temperatures and water shortages that are causing issues in growing regions around the world, 2021 was exceptional. Spring frost reduced quantities in many appellations of Bordeaux while periodic rain throughout the rest of the summer extended the growing season and produced grapes with naturally lower alcohols and higher acids. 2021 is a vintage that, generally, will have more restraint than recent warm vintages and the best examples will show lovely finesse and purity. It is also a year where the particular attributes of each appellation, and even each plot of land, can show through in a wine’s individuality and character. Many of the Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines of the Left Bank will benefit from further cellaring even if they are already hinting at their potential. Firm structure balanced by dark berry fruits, sweet cedar and herbs will characterize many of them with each Château leaving its imprint. Château Phélan Ségur, for instance, has lovely floral notes overlaying dense cassis fruit, while further south, in St-Julien, Château Léoville Poyferré has plusher, more open black fruits. One of my favourite appellations is Pessac-Léognan where the wines tend to be more restrained and always have a throughline of minerality from
2021 BORDEAUX
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