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Neal Martin's Book Excerpt: The Complete Bordeaux Vintage Guide

My new book, The Complete Bordeaux Vintage Guide One Hundred and Fifty Years from 1870-2020, was published recently. Here are just a few words to inform readers how it came about and what to expect. The book does what it says on the tin. However, only when you delve inside will you see that it is much more than an ordinary vintage guide. To be frank, this 528-page book was never planned. Its genesis lies way back on my original Wine-Journal site (2003-2006), which included summaries of growing seasons, each with a chosen attendant event, song and film that aimed to anchor each vintage to that specific twelve months of history and evoke a personal connection between reader and vintage. The traffic data proved that it was always one of the most popular parts of that site. Having mothballed the column in 2006, it gathered dust on my hard drive until I began tinkering like a bored child during lockdown. Like my previous tome on Pomerol, this book grew organically and soon, a vision coalesced of what it could be. First and foremost, it should guarantee as much detailed information as possible, irrespective of how old or esoteric or disparaged the vintage. It would be very egalitarian in that respect. Personal recollections of bottles would augment each vintage tasted over 25 years, though I must emphasize that it includes no formal tasting notes or scores - you have to subscribe to Vinous for those. My craving for completeness drove me on. I began researching the darkest recesses of forgotten vintages that paradoxically can be more engrossing than those revered, if only from a meteorological point-of-view rather than the wines they begat. That would have made a decent book, albeit not a particularly original one. There’s enough wine literature where authors forget that a book must be interesting and entertaining. The book came to life when I began writing explanatory paragraphs pertaining to the events, films and songs. But I foolishly underestimated the task at hand: 450 individual research subjects on an intentionally diverse array of topics, from Krakatoa to ABBA, Eisenstein to Eilish, Bobby Fisher to Kendrick Lamar via Tarzan and Tiger Woods. At times it felt like a microcosm of our world and a juxtaposition between the predictable/cyclical nature of the vineyard and the roiling churn of life - the chaos beyond vineyard boundaries. Despite striving for eclecticism, connections between historical events and wine became apparent, perhaps most obviously during wartime, but also in terms of economic prosperity. You could join the dots regarding the progress made in racial and gender equality. Another decision that I made was that the growing seasons needed context. So, I researched the history of Bordeaux from the 19th century, summarizing major viticultural events of each decade, from phylloxera to inaugural château-bottlings, the devastating freeze of 1956 to the rise of Robert Parker. The book is blessed with a fabulous design courtesy of Luke Bird, partly inspired by the opening titles of the Netflix series Ozark. The embossed cover is dazzling – definitely one that will stand out on your bookshelf! There are also just over a dozen photographs donated by châteaux, each chosen to evoke that period of time. Like my previous tome, look carefully, and you will find Easter eggs littered in its pages, and of course, I had to include one Essex joke. I hope it is a book that you can randomly open at any page, and it draws you in. Whereas “Pomerol” was self-published and limited to a single run, this book is published through Hardie Grant Publishing . It will be widely available in all good bookshops and Internet retailers, including Amazon, which offers the book on Kindle, from mid-April (though I just discovered that Amazon has pushed back the delivery date to early May.) --Neal Martin, Book Excerpt: The Complete Bordeaux Vintage Guide One Hundred and Fifty Years from 1870-2020, April 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ To read an example of one vintage (1986) and get a glimpse of the book, check out the full article on Vinous now. Enjoy a few of Neal's Bordeaux tasting notes from over the years below.

Clos Fourtet

Saint-Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 2019

Delectable Wine
9.3

The 2019 Clos Fourtet has a stubborn and backward bouquet with sultry black fruit, quite tertiary in style, antique bureau and woodbines. The palate is medium-bodied with succulent blackberry and blueberry fruit, maybe just a little cloying compared to its peers despite the velvety and caressing finish. One for those who like modern Saint-Émilion but it needs serious cellaring time. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, February 2023) — a year ago

Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion

Pessac-Léognan Red Bordeaux Blend 2018

Delectable Wine
9.4

The 2018 Les Carmes Haut-Brion was aged in 75% new oak with a touch more matured in foudres. It includes 55% whole bunches. This has a slight confit-like aroma on the nose, plush cranberry and wild strawberry intermingling with cassis and violet; aromatically, this is the more precocious recent vintage. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, fine tannins, clean and pure with excellent acidity keeping everything on an even keel towards the finish. The 2018 has a caressing texture and is very persistent. I might quibble and say that I just find the nose a little trop, but the palate is superb. Tasted at the Les Carmes Haut-Brion vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, October 2022)
 — a year ago

Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2018

Delectable Wine
9.5

The 2018 Grand Puy Lacoste has a quintessential Pauillac nose of intense black fruit infused with graphite scents, pencil shavings and a very discreet marine influence. It is beautifully defined, less opulent than the 2018 Lynch Bages tasted alongside, yet maybe more complex. The palate is medium-bodied and taut, offering sappy black fruit, gritty tannins and a lot of crushed stone. The focused, graphite-driven finish could only come from this appellation. Superb. A wine to correct those bemoaning that Bordeaux no longer makes "proper Claret." (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2021)
 — 3 years ago

Château Canon-la-Gaffelière

Saint-Émilion Red Bordeaux Blend 2019

Delectable Wine
9.3

The 2019 Canon-la-Gaffelière is quite punchy and bold on the nose. Blackberry and raspberry fruit, cedar and mint emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with rounded tannins, quite plush yet cohesive, fanning out towards the velvety finish with a brush of white pepper on the aftertaste. One of the more approachable Saint-Émilion wines in this vintage. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, February 2023) — a year ago

Château Lafite Rothschild

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 1996

Delectable Wine
9.7

The 1996 Lafite-Rothschild is the strongest wine from the First Growth in that decade. This bottle, served blind and ex-château in Bordeaux, is so precociously backward that I estimate it to be half its age. Blackberry, cedar and graphite are here as usual, though this bottle has even more intensity than the one served at the estate in 2018. The palate is brilliantly balanced with fine tannins and very intense graphite-infused fruit; there's just a touch more fruité on the finish. Superb. (Neal Martin, Vinous, January 2023) — a year ago

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Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande

Pauillac Red Bordeaux Blend 2019

Delectable Wine
9.9

The sample of 2019 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande sent to me last year was an absolute show-stopper. The bouquet needs a few minutes to open up, delivering intense black fruit, crushed stone and incense with time in the glass. Yes, the nose does remind me of Latour! The medium-bodied palate is endowed with unerring symmetry and poise. This is a powerful, multi-dimensional Pichon-Lalande, extremely precise, very deep and long. The 60% new oak is seamlessly integrated and feels just right. It reminds me of the 1996 in some ways, but with more finesse on the finish. Stunning. 14.12% alcohol (Neal Martin, Vinous, February 2022)
 — 2 years ago

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Château Calon-Ségur

Saint-Estèphe Red Bordeaux Blend 2019

Delectable Wine
9.4

The 2019 Calon Ségur lacks the luster of Phélan-Ségur on the nose, though there is good concentration, black fruit commingling with melted tar and pencil box. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins, fresh with pliant tannins, cohering nicely towards the finish that has ample flesh. Lovely texture with a persistent white pepper tinged finish. Not quite achieving the heights just after bottling, yet this Saint-Estèphe is heading in the right direction. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. (Neal Martin, Vinous, February 2023) — a year ago

Vijay liked this

Château Cantenac Brown

Margaux Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2018

Delectable Wine
9.4

The 2018 Cantenac Brown, which I had recently tasted as part of my horizontal, here replicates that performance. Very pure on the nose, perhaps a little more opulence than the previous bottle, this is beautifully defined with subtle tobacco scents percolating through the black fruit. The palate is medium-bodied, harmonious and extra supple with great tension towards the finish. This is quintessential Margaux and a superb wine from winemaker José Sanfins. Tasted at the Cantenac Brown vertical at the château. (Neal Martin, Vinous, October 2022)
 — 2 years ago

Château Montrose

Saint-Estèphe Cabernet Sauvignon Blend 2018

Delectable Wine
9.6

The 2018 Montrose delivers on the promise that it showed from barrel. I gave this a three-hour decant before broaching, since Montrose is always backward, albeit far less ferociously than even just a decade ago. It offers copious blackberry and blueberry scents on the nose, plus pressed violets and a light estuarine scent that becomes accentuated with time. The palate is medium-bodied with a silky-smooth texture. Finely chiseled tannins frame multilayered black fruit infused with crushed stone, and it has retained that subtle graphite element that lends it a Pauillac-like personality, though less so than out of barrel. This is a beautifully defined Montrose with entrancing symmetry, and it should drink earlier than other recent vintages thanks to a little more pliancy. (Neal Martin, Vinous, March 2021)
 — 3 years ago