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2018ボルドー・ヴィンテージ・レポート

Bordeax 2018 Vintage Report Summary
2018ボルドー・ヴィンテージ・レポート

 

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2018年ヴィンテージの概要を、弊社ワイン・ディレクターと、各評論家の言葉を引用しながらお伝えします。
ワインのアン・プリムールでのご購入にご関心がお有りの方は、 japan.mail@bbr.comまで、ご連絡ください。
アン・プリムールの概要は、こちらをご覧ください。

Berry Bros. & Rudd Wine Director – MARK PARDOE MW

私はexceptionalという形容詞を、完璧に熟した素晴らしいボルドーが造られた年に使うのですが、今年はまさにその年となりました。長く乾燥した夏によって造られた、目覚ましい出来栄えのワイン。構成要素はずば抜けて優れ、加えて、ポテンシャルを備えているものもあります。カルム・オー・ブリオンのGuillaume Pouthierの言葉を借りれば、「悪夢に始まり、"夢"に終わった年だった」とのこと。フレッシュさを保つことで成功したワインもあれば、夏が与えてくれたこの非凡な熟度を受け入れ、タンニンをワインに織りこませたものもあります。

出来の芳しくないワインには2003年の酷暑を思わせる要素がありますが、成功を収めた多くのシャトーには、2009年の豊潤さと2016年のストラクチャーの両方が備わっています。多くのワインはすぐに飲んで美味しいスタイルですが、そのタンニンの強さを考えれば、熟成力がないといえば不適当になるでしょう。 
詳しく読む 

VINOUS – ANTONIO GALLONI

"2018年のトップのワインは、全く素晴らしい出来だ。デイリーに楽しめるものから、収集価値の高い貴重なアイテムまで、選択肢が膨大にある。2018年の優れた出来のワインは、アロマが豊かで、果実の濃度とストラクチャーが見事に合わさった、色の濃く深みのあるものになった。" 詳しく読む

JEB DUNNUCK

"またもや、ボルドーにとって目覚ましいヴィンテージとなった……2018年は、果実とテクスチャー満載の、完熟したセクシーさをもちながら、同時に著しいフレッシュさと純粋さ(そして、珍しい個性)をも垣間見せる、特別なヴィンテージだ"
(生育期が非常に長かったため、生産者が好きな時期に収穫でき、望むスタイルを手に入れることができた、とも指摘しています。) 詳しく読む

WINE ADVOCATE – LISA PERROTTI-BROWN MW

2018年は、努力を厭わず、速い状況展開にも適応できる高い集中力と機敏さを備えた、妄信的なまでのリスクテイカーに有利な年だった。 詳しく読む


Bordeax 2018 Vintage Report Summary

The world's foremost wine critics have all published their reports on Bordeaux 2018. If you're short on time, here's a summary of what they are saying about the region's new vintage en primeur, and the report from our wine director, Mark Pardoe MW.
If you're interested in purchasing Bordeaux wine en primeur, please send us a message to japan.mail@bbr.com.

Berry Bros. & Rudd Wine Director – MARK PARDOE MW

In my first report on Bordeaux 2018 , posted just before the trip, I said that I had a preference for the adjective "exceptional" for really ripe Bordeaux years; that descriptor now seems prescient. There are exceptional wines, created by the long dry summer – exceptional in their composition but also, for a few, in their potential. To quote Guillaume Pouthier: "The year started like a nightmare, but finished like a dream". Sometimes success has been achieved by finding a way to preserve freshness and, on other occasions, it has been to embrace the remarkable ripeness bestowed by the summer, and let the extraordinary tannins of the year play a different role, and to weave themselves into the wine.

The red wines that are less successful this year have something of the jammy, indistinct notes of 2003 but, for the successes, many châteaux suggested a mix of 2009's richness with 2016's structure. For the rest, there will be a reward of immediacy but, equally, I would not rule out their ability to age, given the intensity of their tannins.

Read Mark's full report here

VINOUS – ANTONIO GALLONI

"The best 2018s are positively stunning. I don't see the consistency of 2016, for example, but 2018 offers a tremendous amount of choice for the consumer, from everyday gems to the rarest of collectibles… The best 2018s are aromatically intense, deep, dark wines that beautifully marry fruit intensity with structure."

Galloni emphasises that this is a vintage that could only have been made now – when producers are equipped with smaller tanks, when the trends towards freshness, away from new oak and over-extraction were key in this potentially massive vintage.

He identifies St Estèphe as a stand-out commune – "the best and most consistent vintage here since 2014"; Pauillac "is littered with superb wines, across all price points"; "St Julien is another star in 2018"; while Margaux and Pessac-Léognan are more varied. "Pomerol is one of the real sweet spots in 2018," and, while he points out St Emilion is so large that it's difficult to make generalisations, "some of the most profound 2018s emerge from [its] pristine vineyards".

Antonio Galloni's highlights: Cos d'Estournel, Calon Ségur, Montrose, Lafon-Rochet, Phélan Ségur, Meyney, Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pichon Lalande, Pontet-Canet, Pichon Baron, Lynch-Bages, Branaire-Ducru, Léoville Las Cases, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Léoville Poyferré, Gloria, Giscours, Margaux, Palmer, Rauzan-Ségla, Durfort-Vivens, Brane-Cantenac, Les Carmes Haut-Brion, Domaine de Chevalier, Pape Clément, Haut-Bailly. Pétrus, La Conseillante, L'Eglise-Clinet, Feytit-Clinet, La Fleur-Pétrus, L'Evangile, Trotanoy, Angélus, Ausone, Beau-Séjour Bécot, Cheval Blanc, Clos Fourtet, Figeac, Larcis Ducasse, La Gaffelière, Troplong-Mondot, Canon, Pavie

Read Antonio Galloni's full report, notes and scores on Vinous here.

NB Robert Parker's protégé and now Vinous contributor Neal Martin isn't scoring the wines at this point in time for health reasons, however he is expected to taste the 2018s in September.

JEB DUNNUCK

"Bordeaux has another incredible vintage on their hands… the 2018s are ripe, sexy wines loaded with fruit and texture, yet they also display a remarkable freshness and purity (as well as singular characters) that make the vintage so special," writes Jeb Dunnuck.

He is quick to point out – as we and the other critics do – that 2018 doesn't offer the same consistency in style as, for example, 2016. That said, "while there are dramatic differences in wine styles (between regions and even neighboring estates)… bad wines are few and far between." The key, as far as he is concerned, is that producers had the freedom to pick when they wanted, and therefore make the style of wine that suited them, meaning that "the style of the wines spans from fresh and lively to powerful and opulent".

Jeb Dunnuck's highlights: Leoville Las Cases, Pavie, Calon Ségur, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Angélus, Cheval Blanc, La Conseillante, Cos d'Estournel, Haut-Bailly, Montrose, Pavie Macquin, Pichon Baron, Clinet, Domaine de Chevalier

Read Jeb Dunnuck's full report, notes and scores here.

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, one of the stand-out wines of Bordeaux 2018 en primeur. Photograph: Jason Lowe
Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, one of the stand-out wines of the vintage. Photograph: Jason Lowe


WINE ADVOCATE – LISA PERROTTI-BROWN MW

"2018 was a vintage that favored the agile, those willing to go the extra mile and who have the hyper focus to cope with fast-paced developments. Those possessing the blind faith of a risk taker."

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW emphasises that 2018 is an extreme vintage, producing wines with big tannins, high alcohols, low acids, with a lot of fruit, power and density. "At the very peak of quality, the 2018s are mind-blowingly incredible. In this upper realm, terroir signatures marry with the character of this vintage to produce wines that speak of both place and time," she writes. However, she also points out that this is a vintage where quality varies widely across the region, and although she doesn't feel there are "bad" wines, she does suggest that there are some "meh" wines. As such, "2018 is a vintage where some critical advice will deliver you safely from a lot of trial-and-error disappointments and, ultimately, save you money."

As Jeb Dunnuck highlighted, the days of Claret that needed decades in the cellar are behind us. Perrotti-Brown emphasises that main of the best wines – offering "rich, already flamboyant fruit and beautifully plush tannins with seamless acidity" – will be approachable early; but "the very best 2018s will be very long lived indeed. Superlatives such as Lafite Rothschild, Latour, Léoville Las Cases, Haut-Brion, Petrus and Lafleur will likely be getting their second wind in 50 to 75 years."

Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW's highlights: Rauzan-Ségla, Figeac, Duhart-Milon, Lafite Rothschild, Latour, Léoville Las Cases, Pichon Lalande, Haut-Brion, Pétrus, Lafleur, Trotanoy, La Conseillante, Margaux, Ausone, Pavie, Bélair-Monange, Canon

Read Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW's full report, notes and scores here.


JAMES SUCKLING

The ever-enthusiastic James starts his report thus: "2018 is an exceptional year for Bordeaux. It is a unique vintage not only because of its hellish grape growing season but because it created wonderful wines with a beautiful depth of ripe fruit and polished, strong tannins. These wines have an impressive underlying freshness despite one of the warmest and driest late summers and harvests on record."

Unlike other critics, he believes it to offer excellent consistency, with "excellent quality wines across the board from the simplest Bordeaux to the great names". He believes that the variations are stylistic rather than qualitative – between earlier-picked fresher and later-picked richer wines, as well as those that saw different levels of extraction in the winery.

"Regardless of how they were made, the majority of the 2018 reds in my tastings were beautifully structured with ripe fruit and potent tannins, yet there is an impressive drinkability to them."

James Suckling's highlights: Lafleur, Pétrus, Mouton Rothschild, Rauzan-Ségla, Léoville Las Cases, Domaine de Chevalier, Canon, Cheval Blanc, Cos d'Estournel, Ducru-Beaucaillou, Montrose, Pavie, Figeac, Larcis Ducasse

Read James Suckling's full report, notes and scores here.