The 2020 Bordeaux Futures: A Vintage of Great Elegance
The 2020 Bordeaux futures campaign was quite exciting, revealing true gems across the region's legendary wine appellations, like Saint Emilion and Pauillac. As with each new vintage, the improvements both out in the vineyard and in the winery of each chateau across France have resulted in the exceptional quality of both red and white wines. A dry late season allowed for the harvest of high quality fruit for each grape varietal of Bordeaux blend, icnluding Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.
The profile of the 2020 Bordeaux vintage is perhaps less powerful than the profile of 2019, which will be remembered for its ripe fruit aromas. Nevertheless, 2020 produced great wines with a silky, fine and delicate texture, along with an exceptionally beautiful color in the glass. These wines also boast superb structure and balance, which guarantee remarkable aging potential. This is a vintage whose quality (described by wine critiques like Jeb Dunnuck chateau reviews and James Suckling chateau reviews) is reflected in their futures pre-sale price. It holds to promise of a beautiful evolution in the bottle over the course of time.
Are you thinking about purchasing Bordeaux futures? Read our "Why Buy Wine Futures" guide and take a look at our offer on wines by the unit of case, ready to add to cart now. Please keep in mind, that once these wines are bottled, they will appear in the Pre-Arrival category of our website. This category includes Bordeaux Pessac-Leognan Pre-Arrival, Bordeaux Haut Medoc Pre-Arrival, Bordeaux Margaux Pre-Arrival, Saint-Julien Pre-Arrival, Pauillac Pre-Arrival and St. Estephe Pre-Arrival and Listrac wines from the Left Bank, as well as Pomerol, St.-Emilion and Fronsac wines from the Right Bank. Once they become Pre-Arrivals, these wines will be shipped out to your doorstep within 3-6 months' time.
The 2020 Bordeaux Futures from the Left Bank
In Bordeaux's Left Bank appellations, like Margaux, Saint-Estephe, Pauillac, Saint-Julien and Pessac-Leognan, the 2020 Bordeaux Futures display fantastic structure and a beautiful, rich color in the glass. The chateaux - including Chateau Haut-Bailly in Pessac Leognan, Haut Brion in Pessac Leognan, Smith Haut Lafitte, Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou, Chateau Langoa Barton and Grand-Puy-Lacoste - did not suffer too much from water stress. They produced very good red wines that stand out for their elegance and their remarkable aging potential as well as their accessibility in their youth.
The 2020 Bordeaux Wine Futures from the Right Bank
In Bordeaux's Right Bank appellations, like Saint-Emilion and Pomerol, the quality of the Merlot grapes harvested was truly historic. The fruit showed a beautiful color and the must revealed early on delicious fruity aromas upon a solid structure of tannins. The 2020 Right Bank futures were met with great enthusiasm during futures tastings in Bordeaux and New York in the US.
The 2020 Sauternes and Barsac Futures
While the end-of-season dry climate conditions helped with the grape harvest in most Bordeaux appellations, the winegrowers of Sauternes and Barsac were left on edge. The famous noble rot (Botrytis cinerea) took an exceptionally long time to make its appearance and, once it did, it required great attention to detail from the vineyard teams. The 2020 harvest in these appellations was characterized by very low yields. Nevertheless, the wines were superb, with a fantastic balance of sugar and acid.
The 2020 Bordeaux Wine Futures in White
And finally, the Bordeaux Dry White Wines and white wines of Pessac-Leognan were overall successful despite the very hot summertime temperatures, which had the potential to diminish the freshness and tension of these wines. in the end, the clay-limestone soils yielded delicious, beautiful and well-balanced white wines. While they are perhaps less exuberant on the nose than the white wines of 2019, they nevertheless boast an exceptional finesse.
The 2020 Bordeaux Futures in Three Words?
Color. Finesse. Elegance.
