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Neal Martin’s top-scoring Bordeaux 2020 wines from the Southwold tasting

Southwold wine tasting
  • Vinous published Neal Martin’s assessment of Bordeaux 2020 from the annual Southwold tasting.
  • Martin placed the 2020 vintage ahead of the 2018 but behind 2019 and 2022.
  • With 99 points, Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande was Martin’s top-scoring wine. 

The annual Southwold tasting presents major critics with the opportunity to blind taste a Bordeaux vintage four years on in peer groups, mostly within appellations. 

Last week, Vinous published Neal Martin’s assessment of Bordeaux 2020 – a vintage ‘born in a tumultuous world,’ due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges, the critic argued that it bestowed ‘Bordeaux-lovers with a bevy of outstanding wines that should stand the test of time.’ 

Neal Martin’s thoughts on Bordeaux 2020

Martin described the dry whites as a ‘little hit-and-miss’ and the Sauternes as ‘very good rather than excellent.’ When it comes to the reds, however, the critic said that they ‘are going to give a great deal of pleasure.’

In terms of vintage comparisons, Martin placed 2020 ahead of 2018 but behind 2019 and 2022, which were more ‘crammed with legends in the making’. He wrote: ‘Perhaps 2020 doesn’t quite possess the vaulting ambition of those two vintages, though in some cases, it surpasses the best of both.’

His favourite appellation was Saint-Julien, which ‘raised the bar with a cluster of outstanding wines.’ The critic argued that this flight ‘solidified 2020 as a bona fide great vintage on the Left Bank.’ He described Margaux as ‘solid,’ with the ‘real superstar’ being the First Growth.

From Saint-Estèphe, Martin highlighted Montrose as ‘the standout of the appellation,’ with the biggest surprise being the 2020 Phélan Ségur, ‘one of the best values given its reasonable price.’

Neal Martin’s top-scoring Bordeaux 2020 wines

Due to the nature of the Southwold blind tasting – wines grouped by appellation – Martin’s scores were ‘a little lower than when [he] encountered these wines at the end of 2022’.

His top-scoring wine, Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, received 99 points. He described it as ‘a fabulous Pauillac that flirts with perfection.’ 

The rest of the wines in the top ten received 98 points. The highest-scored First Growth was Margaux, which the critic claimed was ‘among the greatest wines of the 2020 vintage.’ The ‘captivating’ and ‘mesmerising’ Cheval Blanc also scored among the best wines from the vintage. So did Trotanoy (‘an outstanding Pomerol’), and Canon (‘God made wine so it can taste as good as this’).

Investing in Bordeaux 2020

All of Martin’s top 2020 wines have fallen in value since release, apart from Trotanoy. 

This is partly because of the overall market direction in the last two years, but also due to the availability of older and in some cases higher-rated vintages available at a discount.

As Martin rightly noted, ‘the top wines in this report not only compete against each other, but also with themselves in terms of alternative available vintages.’

The lower-than-average prices at the moment, however, present great buying opportunities, especially for brands with a positive long-term performance. 

WineCap’s independent market analysis showcases the value of portfolio diversification and the stability offered by investing in wine. Speak to one of our wine investment experts and start building your portfolio. Schedule your free consultation today.

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Neal Martin’s top-scoring Bordeaux 2023 wines

Mouton Rothschild 2023
  • According to Neal Martin (Vinous), Bordeaux 2023 is a heterogeneous vintage riddled with paradoxes.
  • Only one wine achieved his highest score of 98-100 points – L’Eglise Clinet.
  • Martin suggested that ‘deep [price] cuts’ are needed for the campaign to work.

 Now that the En Primeur campaign has kicked off, critics have started releasing their Bordeaux 2023 in-barrel scores. Vinous recently published Neal Martin’s assessment of this ‘Dalmatian’ vintage, characterised by ‘spots of astounding quality’ but also ‘all manner of shortcomings’ – even in some of the region’s most famous names.

Bordeaux 2023 vintage overview

‘A season riddled with paradoxes,’ Neal Martin described Bordeaux 2023 as a heterogeneous vintage. According to him, it ‘would sit uncomfortably on a mantelpiece alongside 2016, 2020 and 2022’. However, the critic acknowledged that ‘some châteaux pulled out magical wines from their top hat, surpassing those aforementioned years in one or two cases’.

The keyword that defined 2023 is ‘classicism’, meaning ‘lower alcohol levels in the 13-something range,’ without the opulence of previous vintages.

Martin further noted that ‘the 2023s are relatively more tannic than we’ve become accustomed to, more linear and vertical, though endowed with greater fruit concentration than the 2021s’. He continued: ‘The best wines embrace these traits while maintaining sufficient fruit and grip, occasionally harking back to the kind of barrel samples encountered in the early days of my career, and I mean that in a good sense’.

Overall, Martin claimed that ‘despite the disparity in quality, it cannot be denied that it is bejewelled with a clutch of spellbinding wines’.

Top-scoring Bordeaux 2023 wines

Neal Martin’s top-scoring Bordeaux 2023 wines can be seen in the table below. Only one wine achieved the maximum barrel range of 98-100 points – the 2023 L’Eglise Clinet. Martin said that ‘it’s very harmonious and fans out brilliantly on the finish’.

Three wines received a barrel range of 97-99 points: Margaux, Lafleur and Le Pin. In his tasting note, Martin called the First Growth a ‘quintessential Château Margaux’ but noted that it ‘will require ten years in bottle to really show what it is capable of’.

Regarding Lafleur, he said it was ‘one of the few profound wines this vintage’. He described Le Pin as ‘so pure and refined, it seems to embrace and gently hug the senses’.

En Primeur and the global market

Despite the virtues of the vintage, the question of whether it will present value is pertinent in the current economic climate. For Martin, the ‘newborn wines blink open their eyes to survey a bleak economic landscape and finger-pointing between various factions as to who’s to blame’. He said that ‘deep cuts, not gestures, are the only thing that will open wallets’.

This week’s first releases have seen discounts of up to 40% on last year. However, back vintages of similar quality that remain available for less continue to challenge the En Primeur tradition.

Stay tuned for our analysis of the best value releases.

WineCap’s independent market analysis showcases the value of portfolio diversification and the stability offered by investing in wine. Speak to one of our wine investment experts and start building your portfolio. Schedule your free consultation today.

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Ten years on: Neal Martin reviews Bordeaux 2014

Bordeaux
  • Neal Martin recently reviewed Bordeaux 2014 ten years on.
  • The critic noted that many of the wines have evolved faster than expected.
  • He declared it a Left Bank vintage and gave his highest score to Mouton Rothschild.

Vinous recently published Neal Martin’s assessment of Bordeaux 2014 following two consecutive tastings, including the annual Southwold 10-years-on event.

Martin’s overall impression was that the wines were ‘more unpredictable than other vintages’, and ones to ‘approach with modest expectations’. For him, many of them deserve drinking in the near future, but some are yet to deliver more.

On the question of Left vs Right Bank, the critic noted that the Left Bank has proven to be more consistent. When it comes to best-performing appellations, his pick was Saint-Julien.

Bordeaux 2014 ageing potential

Ten years on, the 2014 vintage has ‘evolved faster than envisaged’, according to Martin. The critic said that ‘it twinkled brightly in its youth, but many of its alumni were not predisposed toward longevity’. He further noted that ‘it certainly lacks the legs of, say, 2010 or 2016, perhaps even 2012 or 2017’.

Martin singled out wines that still have a life ahead of them and will be ‘intriguing to revisit at 15 years’, including Léoville Poyferré, Mouton Rothschild, Lafleur and Grand-Puy-Lacoste.

Favourite wines

For Martin, the wines that have ‘much more to offer’ and sit ‘up the hierarchy’ were Cheval Blanc, Figeac, Ausone and Pavie. ‘L’Eglise-Clinet, Lafleur and in particular, Vieux Château Certan, excel over in Pomerol, likewise Petrus and Clos l’Eglise,’ the critic added.

However, he warned that ‘none of the aforementioned ranks among their best wines’.

A personal favourite from Pessac-Léognan was Domaine de Chevalier. He also liked Pape-Clément and Haut-Bailly. His top-scoring wines can be seen in the table below.

Neal Martin's top-scoring Bordeaux 2014 wines

Mouton Rothschild received the highest score of 97 points. Martin argued that it was ‘contender for wine of the vintage’ and ‘one of a handful of wines that transcends the limitations of the season, partly due to the skills of former winemaker Philippe Dhalluin’.

The critic also said that ‘the 2014 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is outstanding and performed neck-and-neck with the First Growths’.

Bordeaux 2014 – performance since release

While the vintage may not sit up with the very best like 2010 or 2016, many of the wines offer relative value and a lower-than-average entry point into Bordeaux’s top brands.

Moreover, some have delivered handsome returns since release. Beyond the obvious performers of Carruades de Lafite (208.3%) and Petit Mouton (173.1%) and wines like Figeac (164.5%) which have benefited from changing classification, there is considerable growth to be found in some 2014s. For instance, Beychevelle has risen 165.4%, Calon Ségur – 113.4%, La Conseillante – 93.0%, and Canon-La Gaffelière – 80.3%. To see overall brand performances, visit Wine Track.

Bordeaux 2014 performance since release

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Bordeaux 2021 in bottle: Vinous’ top-scoring wines

  • Neal Martin said Bordeaux 2021 shouldn’t be dismissed and identified an ‘overachiever’ among the wines in this challenging vintage.
  • According to Antonio Galloni, the quality is higher on the Left Bank than on the Right Bank.
  • A dry white wine and a Sauternes were the critics’ top-scoring wines from the vintage.

Vinous recently published two separate Bordeaux 2021 in-bottle reports by Neal Martin and Antonio Galloni. In this article, we summarise their views on this polarising vintage.

Why Bordeaux 2021 should not be ignored

In his report, titled ‘2+2=5: Bordeaux 2021 In Bottle’, Neal Martin explained why ‘irrationality tastes good’ and why Bordeaux 2021 shouldn’t be ignored. He said that ‘on paper, a cursory glance at the troubled growing season would make any rational person dismiss its wines’. But the critic argued that they would be wrong.

While Martin awarded few wines more than 95 points, he advised readers against ‘thinking that the 2021 vintage is incapable of giving sensory and intellectual pleasure’.

According to him, advanced technology and refined winemaking made a fundamental difference at the top end, and thus 2021 cannot be compared ‘with off-vintages like 1977, 1992 or arguably even 2013’.

Martin singled out Les Carmes Haut-Brion as an ‘overachiever’ that ‘halts you in your tracks’ and noted that ‘there is a cluster of very strong-performing wines on the Left Bank that merit attention and possess the substance to repay cellaring’. He added that ‘the Right Bank matches the Left Bank, particularly the usual names on the Pomerol plateau […] and likewise those in Saint-Émilion on free-draining limestone soils’.

Similarly, Galloni found ‘a wide range of compelling wines that merit attention’ within the context of a challenging growing season.

‘In many ways, 2021 can be summarized as a year in which classic Bordeaux weather of the past meets the technical know-how of today in both the vineyard and winery,’ the critic argued.

Overall, he said, ‘the quality is higher and more consistent on the Left Bank over the Right Bank, even though at the very top, the best Right Bank wines can only be described as stellar’.

Galloni called Calon Ségur, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Lafite Rothschild, Pichon-Comtesse and Rauzan-Ségla ‘magnificent’, Les Carmes Haut-Brion – ‘majestic’, Vieux Château Certan, Cheval Blanc, Canon, and Lafleur – ‘compelling’. He also made a special mention of the dry white wines, namely Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc, Haut-Brion Blanc and Domaine de Chevalier Blanc.

Top-scoring Bordeaux 2021 wines

Neal Martin Bordeaux 2021 scores

Neal Martin’s top-scoring Bordeaux 2021 was a dry white wine, La Mission Haut-Brion Blanc, while Galloni gave a near-perfect score to a wine from Sauternes – Suduiraut.

Wines that appeared in both critics’ top ten included Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Vieux Château Certan, Lafleur, and Cheval Blanc.

For Galloni, Vieux Château Certan ‘may very well be the wine of the vintage from the Right Bank’, while Martin commented that it ‘transcends the limitations of the growing season’, calling it ‘outstanding’.

Another wine that critics agreed on was Lafleur, which Galloni described as ‘incredibly fascinating’ in 2021, and Neal Martin noted as a ‘strong contender for the wine of the vintage’.

Antonio Galloni Bordeaux 2021 scores

Full report and tasting notes are available on Vinous.

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Neal Martin awards three Bordeaux 2022 wines potential 100 points

En Primeur Neal Martin Bordeaux 2022
  • Bordeaux 2022 is predestined for long-term ageing rather than drinking young.
  • Martin found little difference between the First Growths and ‘the others’ in terms of quality.
  • He singled out Saint-Julien as an appellation to seek out.
  • Leoville Las Cases, Cheval Blanc and L’Eglise Clinet received 98-100 points.

Yesterday, Vinous published Neal Martin’s much anticipated Bordeaux 2022 report, titled “You’re unbelievable”.

Vintage observations

Martin found some ‘snow-capped peaks’, ‘show-offs whose talent cannot be denied’ as well as some ‘caveats’ in Bordeaux 2022. Like other critics, he commented on the ‘unbelievable’ freshness given the heat of the growing season.

He remarked that in 2022 ‘there is partial flattening of the hierarchical pyramid’. While ‘release prices will inevitably amplify differences in ranking, in terms of quality, there’s little difference between First Growths and “the others”,’ he observed.

On the question of Right vs Left Bank, the critic said the ‘vintage is more evenly balanced’ but singled out Saint-Julien as an appellation to watch out for, noting that ‘this is as good as it gets’.

He mentioned the wines’ higher alcohol levels compared to the 2021s, that are ‘often above 14%’ but feel ‘less blowsy than in 2018’. He also said that ‘unlike 2019 and 2020, most wines, particularly within its higher ranks, are predestined for long-term aging’.

However, he advised ‘those with a penchant for drinking Bordeaux young [to] seek out another vintage’.

In terms of buying opportunities, he argued that ‘the question is whether initial prices make any purchase worthwhile vis-à-vis other vintages currently on the market’.

Top-scoring wines

Neal Martin's top-scoring Bordeaux 2022 wines

While Martin stated that En Primeur is more than just scores, it is important to note that three wines achieved his highest in-barrel range of 98-100 points.

Cheval Blanc 2022, which was among the first releases this campaign, is ‘a wine for those serious about their Bordeaux,’ according to the critic. Vinous’ Antonio Galloni also rated it 98-100 points, noting that ‘it is shaping up to be one of the wines of vintage’. It also makes an attractive investment, with Cheval Blanc prices rising an average of 22% over the last three years.

Cheval Blanc prices and scores

For Martin, Leoville Las Cases 2022 ‘surpasses the 2018-2020 trio and […] is a ‘tour de force’’.

He described L’Eglise Clinet as ‘a wine that may leave you spellbound’.

Martin also suggested some wines from the cellar which included Brane-Cantenac, La Conseillante, Léoville Barton, Phélan-Ségur, Pichon-Baron and Vieux-Château-Certan.

You can now explore the historic performance of these wines on Wine Track. Our tool provides a clear overview of a fine wine’s track record, including critic scores, average price and investment returns.

WineCap’s independent market analysis showcases the value of portfolio diversification and the stability offered by investing in wine. Speak to one of our wine investment experts and start building your portfolio. Schedule your free consultation today.