After tasting more than 800 Bordeaux 2019 wines in bottle, Georgie Hindle has given her verdict on how the wines are tasting now.
Here we present a quick and easy way to see tasting notes and scores for all 22 St-Julien wines tasted.
| Producer | Appellation | Vintage | Score | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Château Léoville-Las Cases | St-Julien (2ème Cru Classé) | 2019 | 98 | Wet stone, smoke and floral aspects to the aromatic profile - seriously inviting. Density and power here, but cooling and all in balance, full of blackcurrant and black cherries with obvious minerality. It gives such plushness in terms of roundness and grip of tannins, but also layers of perfumed fruit, ripe fruit and cooling slate and liquorice elements. A distinguished wine with a seamless tannic structure and excellent length. Lots of life here and also a real, almost sweet acidity that gives life and lift. Lots going on now but designed for long and steady ageing. Drinking window: 2029-2050 Click to see full details | |
| Château Léoville Poyferré | St-Julien (2ème Cru Classé) | 2019 | 97 | So aromatic with real complexity of notes on the nose, perfume and black fruits. Quite tannic on the palate, broad-shouldered with a core of liquorice-edged black fruit, dark chocolate and slate giving it quite a serious, gourmet and savoury feel right now. Lovely poise though, with mouthwatering freshness. Feels well made with energy and elegance. A standout wine with plenty on offer. Drinking window: 2027-2045 Click to see full details | |
| Château Ducru-Beaucaillou | St-Julien (2ème Cru Classé) | 2019 | 96 | Rich, ripe, heady nose filled with milk chocolate, blackcurrant and black cherry with floral touches. This is a beguiling wine, starting off smooth and velvety with a bright cherry freshness that is fun and playful before settling and deepening into a black fruit profile, seductively drawing you in and presenting layer upon layer of acidity, flavour and tannins that, despite being abundant and mouth filling are juicy, soft and fine. Precision winemaking on show here, and across the entire range of wines this year. This is complex and defined with an aerial finish that's filled with crushed stone and freshly picked mint. A glass of wine you just want to sit with and think about. One to buy and hold on to. Drinking window: 2025-2045 Click to see full details | |
| Château Gruaud-Larose | St-Julien (2ème Cru Classé) | 2019 | 96 | A gorgeous dark purple colour in the glass with a bright pink rim. It is a little reticent on the nose, just giving a hint of fragranced fruit with dark chocolate, caramel and sweet coffee touches - so inviting. Ultra sleek and suave on the palate but at the same time racy and vibrant. A combination of rich black fruits and quite savoury aspects on the palate, tar, tobacco and wood smoke with black currants and cherries but here the emphasis really is on those herbal, medicinal aspects that give this such a serious tone but also such interest and intrigue. Lifted and bright on the palate but soft tannins letting the aromatics do all the talking. Seductive. Will be incredibly moreish in a few years. Drinking window: 2027-2045 Click to see full details | |
| Château Lagrange | St-Julien (3ème Cru Classé) | 2019 | 96 | Lovely deep red pink rim to the glass. Such freshness and floral lift on the nose, smells lively and welcoming with a cool blue fruit touch to the aromas alongside faint hints of liquorice. Amazing texture and mouthfeel - filling with a good density of chalky and textured tannins underpinning creamy red fruits with a juicy acidity that is so succulent and mouthwatering. Just giving everything - abundant, generous lively fruit, creamy velvet-textured tannins, bright acidity and gorgeous Cabernet aspects. Round and complete, excellent winemaking on show. Drinking window: 2023-2037 Click to see full details | |
| Château Léoville Barton | St-Julien (2ème Cru Classé) | 2019 | 96 | A dark nose here, savoury with animal tones, bramble fruits and leather nuances. The palate is excellent, grippy with tannins that just take hold and coat the mouth but underneath you feel there is such well defined fruit - a core of ripe blackcurrants and liquorice tinges. There is an elegance to this despite the mouthful of creamy tannins that are doing all the talking at the moment. This will be excellent in time. Sumptuous and utterly enchanting. Drinking window: 2024-2045 Click to see full details | |
| Château Léoville-Las Cases, Le Petit Lion du Marquis de Las Cases | St-Julien | 2019 | 96 | Gorgeous perfumed cherry fruit on the nose, such clarity and drive the aromas jumping out the glass. The palate has a real elegance, juicy but calm, smooth and sophisticated, wrapped up in silky tannins that gently support the fruit. Charming with approachability. You really get the vibrant fruit but it's so sculpted, no edges with touches of iodine, wet stone and iron in the wine and a soft saline kick at the end, so layered yet pure. Effortless charm here. Drinking window: 2024-2035 Click to see full details | |
| Château Beychevelle | St-Julien (4ème Cru Classé) | 2019 | 95 | Dark nose, quite serious and seductive. This draws you in from the first smell with lovely florality and delicacy. On the palate it's deep and the power is on show no doubt, there's concentration but also such aromatics and purity of fruit with tannins that are gentle and svelte. Lifted the whole way through, good acidity and a subtle creaminess at the end. A well framed, pretty and powerful style. Great winemaking with precision. Drinking window: 2027-2045 Click to see full details | |
| Château Branaire-Ducru | St-Julien (4ème Cru Classé) | 2019 | 95 | Nuanced and complex on the nose, this smells rich and full of life. Juicy from the start with a brightness to the fruit. Harmonious with round, slightly chewy generous tannins. Has real aromatic interest, a lovely freshness and then a cooling effect on the finish. Well packaged and shiny. Glamour but also depth, precision and definite approachability. Drinking window: 2027-2040 Click to see full details | |
| Château Saint-Pierre | St-Julien (4ème Cru Classé) | 2019 | 95 | Such an expressive nose, high toned, floral, a bit wild with some medicinal aspects, coffee, leather and cola notes. The texture is just gorgeous, there's a chewiness that you find in a lot of the St-Julien's but it's soft, generous, round and mouth filling in a great way. Then a deep core of fruits come in with black liquorice, underpinned by excellent cooling acidity and menthol freshness. I like this a lot. Great florality and perfume surrounding the fruit on the palate too. This has a seductive appeal with rich fruit and rich spicing. Drinking window: 2025-2043 Click to see full details | |
| Clos du Marquis | St-Julien | 2019 | 95 | Fragrant and full with deep, rich, dark and silky tannins underpinned by great freshness. It has a smooth texture, the flavours of sweet but fresh and vibrant cherry fruit and a touch of menthol just gliding across the palate, supported by tight-knit tannins. High-toned with well-defined edges and a consistency from start to finish. You could drink this now for its rich but seductive charming fruit-forwardness. Drinking window: 2025-2045 Click to see full details | |
| Château Langoa Barton | St-Julien (3ème Cru Classé) | 2019 | 94 | Quite strongly perfumed on the nose here, full, heady, more pronounced than some of the others with a richness and intensity to the nose. High toned straight away, a combination of quite ripe acidity, almost brusque on the palate with a creaminess to the tannins. Doesn't feel totally harmonious right now but there is great density of fruit, good acidity, brightness and soft tannins with a liquorice kick at the end, cooling and fresh. Lots going on here, just needs to come together. Drinking window: 2025-2040 Click to see full details | |
| Château Beychevelle, Amiral | St-Julien | 2019 | 93 | Lovely intensity on the nose, aromatic and expressive. Smooth and high-toned on the palate, bright with a classy shine to the black fruits. I really love the aromatics on the profile here, you get that perfume and gloss with depth and soft tannins. Easy-drinking second wine, easy to recommend. Drinking window: 2025-2042 Click to see full details | |
| Château Léoville Poyferré, Pavillon de Leyoville Poyferre | St-Julien | 2019 | 93 | Deep purple colour in the glass. Heady on the nose, perfumed and floral. Quite strong with the aromas flowing out the glass. Lovely impact straight away, this is clear and well defined, a core of bright fruit - linear and quite a lean style of fruit but good definition supported by gently grippy, chewy tannins. Lots of potential here. I like it, even if the tannins are on the powerful and muscular side right now. Drinking window: 2023-2033 Click to see full details | |
| Château Talbot | St-Julien (4ème Cru Classé) | 2019 | 93 | Such an expressive nose, majoring on floral black cherry and dark chocolate notes. High toned on the palate you can feel the freshness which is so welcome. This has nice appeal, quite a gentle style, definite grippy tannins but they are round with smooth edges. Nice impact, not showy or too over the top. Just a bit of rusticity on the finish still with licks of liquorice spice. Drinking window: 2023-2035 Click to see full details | |
| Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou | St-Julien | 2019 | 92 | Bramble fruit, hedgerow, some rose-perfumed florality - expressive on the nose with additional herbal notes and green bell pepper nuances. Excellent succulence on the palate with a juicy, wet stone minerality. Fruit is high toned, tannins are muscular and very present but also quite polished with spiced edges that tingle the tongue with a combination of spice and smoke. The elements are there but they're also a little closed right now. Power and length. Buy and hold on to. A second wine which used to include a lot of the fruit that went into the grand vin but now the majority of grapes comes from their own separate parcels in the centre of St-Julien. Drinking window: 2025-2039 Click to see full details | |
| Château Léoville Barton, La Reserve de Leoville Barton | St-Julien | 2019 | 92 | Shiny glossy fruit on the nose, floral and pretty. Bright pink in the glass full of blackcurrant and cherry aromas. Nice plushness on the palate with chewy tannins that have a touch of dryness/chalkiness and drive of fresh red fruit, with some creamy, chalky aspects coming in on the finish. Nicely balanced. It's balanced and fresh, light and playful. Not showy, but easy. Touch of cedar wood on the edges at the finish. Drinking window: 2023-2030 Click to see full details | |
| Château Talbot, Connetable Talbot | St-Julien | 2019 | 92 | Milk chocolate creaminess on the nose, soft and delicate, with blackcurrant sweets. Good definition here, chewy tannins but they're well integrated and support the bright fruit, but also that creamy milk chocolate taste too. I like this, sweet core, red cherry skin texture, grippy and holds interest while the juice and brightness go underneath and then to the long cool finish. Not a showstopper but really has a lot of lovely elements to it. Tannins need a bit longer. Drinking window: 2023-2034 Click to see full details | |
| Château Léoville Poyferré, Château Moulin Riche | St-Julien | 2019 | 91 | Dark chocolate shavings with blackcurrants on the nose. Rich and concentrated with liquorice that is very much at the fore right now. Acidity provides a bright touch to the otherwise darker, more serious elements. Attractive presence and sculpting. Drinking window: 2024-2034 Click to see full details | |
| Château Saint-Pierre, Esprit de Saint-Pierre | St-Julien | 2019 | 91 | Savoury, spicy aspect to the nose, which reveals liquorice, black pepper, cherry and violets. Dark in personality. Chewy but bright and playful. Tannins are there, and they do grip the mouth, but they are plush and support the fruit. Cherry and blackcurrant sweetness. No need to wait too long. Easy-drinking and pretty style. Drinking window: 2023-2031 Click to see full details | |
| Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, Le Petit Ducru de Ducri-Beaucaillou | St-Julien | 2019 | 90 | Lovely, fresh, delicate and fruity nose; smells quite rich and ripe. Good push of plush fruit, bright cherry straight away then darkens to something more serious and sensual. Tannins are overpowering, just so abundant, covering the tongue and cheeks but they're soft - you need that structure to give it life. Feels sculpted if a little excessive right now, but good freshness and drive, and round on the mid-palate with no angles. Some spice at the end. From the western part of the appellation, a parcel of about 25ha purchased in the 1970s. 10ha in the process of being replanted - so 15ha in production. This is the third wine and receives declassified fruit from the higher wines, although produced with the same philosophy. Drinking window: 2023-2031 Click to see full details | |
| Château Lagrange, Les Fiefs de Lagrange | St-Julien | 2019 | 90 | Blackcurrant florality on the nose. Great sweetness and juice with creamy edges, too, and again the aromatics come out. Soft, playful, nice depth, unshowy but nicely balanced and well presented. It's for easy drinking. Gentle and comforting. Drink now. Drinking window: 2022-2030 Click to see full details |