Bordeaux En Primeur 2021: Vintage Review, Best Wines

Bordeaux En Primeur (or wine futures) week is an annual event where buyers can invest in the region’s prestigious wines before they are bottled. Besides offering you guaranteed access to limited vintages, it also presents a lucrative opportunity to invest in En Primeur futures.  

The Bordeaux En Primeur 2021 week began on April 25th, 2022, and featured a stellar range of traditional and unusual vintage labels. These wines will be bottled and released in 2024.

In this article, we’ll analyze if 2021 was a good year for Bordeaux wine and how it compares to previous vintages. We’ll also explore the top Bordeaux En Primeur 2021 performers and reveal how Vinovest can help you invest in these wines.

Was 2021 a Good Year for Bordeaux Wine?

The 2021 Bordeaux En Primeur campaign was overall a mixed bag. 

The year was fantastic for the region’s white wines but uneven for its red labels. While Bordeaux’s total grape yields remained lower than in previous years, the vintage quality varied across appellations.  

The factors responsible for the vintage’s dynamic character are:

1. Climate and Terroir

During 2021, Bordeaux experienced severe frost at the start of the growing season in April, following the warm spell in March. While most vineyards sustained frost damage, plots in Sauternes, Graves, and Barsac took the worst hit.

After the frost season, heavy and infrequent rains in June led to mildew damage in the vineyards. Though wet summers have been historically catastrophic for Bordeaux reds (as in 2013 and 2017), the optimal conditions at harvest time in October 2021 salvaged the grapes. 

As for the whites, the warm August weather led to a good harvest in September.  

2. Harvest Quality 

The erratic climate and mildew attack in 2021 produced red grapes with uneven character – some tart and unripe with a hollow mid-palate, others concentrated and flavor-rich. 

The Bordeaux wine producers, who played safe, harvested underripe grapes with hard tannins early on, resulting in bland, lackluster wines. Some other risk-averse estates failed at grape selection and timing the harvest, producing acidic wines with astringent tannins.

The best wines of 2021 were delivered by vineyards that took the risk of delaying their harvest. These estates planned a late harvest, allowing the grapes to ripen slowly and build flavor nuances. This resulted in fine wine labels with balanced acidity and lush tannins. 

Some of these estates are:

• Chateau Phélan Ségur
• Château Latour 
• Chateau Lafite Rothschild
• Château Mouton Rothschild 
• Chateau Calon Ségur
• Chateau La Conseillante

Meanwhile, the well-timed grape harvest in 2021 produced stunning Bordeaux whites with an elegant flavor profile and vibrant, aromatic intensity. 

3. Alcohol Content Variation

Though the harvest period varied across the Bordeaux region, the overall absence of heat  produced wines with lower alcohol levels (ABV of 12.5 or lower.) Winemakers remedied this by chapitalizing the red wines to add plumpness and raise alcohol levels. 

Note: Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to grape juice before fermentation to raise the wine’s alcohol content. Yeasts consume the sugar and convert it to alcohol. 

However, 2021 also yielded wines with 14.1 natural ABV, making chapitalization unnecessary for such labels. 

How Does the Bordeaux En Primeur 2021 Compare to Previous Years?

Given their lively acidity and lower ABV, the 2021 En Primeur wine labels are reminiscent of the classic 90s Bordeaux styles, especially the 1999 and 1996 vintages.

The region produced 377 million liters of wine in 2021, 14% lower than in 2020 and 22.5% lower than Bordeaux’s ten-year average production. The refined flavors and elegant character of the warmer 2018, 2019, and 2020 vintages were also missing in the 2021 wines. 

Wine critics have compared the 2021 vintage to 2008’s highly acidic wines and 2014’s dense labels. Since most of 2021’s Bordeaux wines were red (84.2%), they reflected the inconsistent quality of the vintage. 

Most of the reds are highly acidic, astringent labels. While some estates compensated by adding sugars during vinification, the final wines remained uninspiring. 

Furthermore, the tight, unyielding character of these latest vintage samples made En Primeur tasting difficult. However, cellaring them for 10 to 15 years may unravel deeper flavors and soften tannins.

Top Performers of the 2021 Bordeaux En Primeur Week

The best wines of the 2021 Bordeaux En Primeur tasting week are:

1. Left Bank

The leading Bordeaux wine producers of the Left Bank appellations (like Château Latour, Château Lafite Rothschild, and Château Mouton Rothschild) crafted dark fruit-flavored Cabernet Sauvignon blends with smooth tannins. 

Chateau Calon Ségur was one of the few wineries to avoid chapitalizing its red wines. Chateaux Cos d’Estournel, Margaux, Lynch-Bages and Smith-Haut-Lafitte delivered crisp, elegant white wines.

The top 2021 Bordeaux En Primeur Left Bank labels (with their wine scores) are:

• Chateau Haut Brion - 96 to 98 (Robert Parker)
• Chateau Margaux - 95 to 97+ (Robert Parker)
• Chateau Leoville Las Cases - 95 to 97 (Robert Parker)
• Chateau Les Carmes Haut Brion - 94 to 97 (Robert Parker), 96 to 98 (Vinous)
• Chateau Haut-Brion Blanc- 94 to 96+ (Robert Parker), 96 to 98 (Vinous)
• Chateau Smith-Haut-Lafitte Blanc - 96 to 98 (Vinous)
• Chateau Phélan Ségur - 93 to 95 (Vinous)

2. Right Bank

The Bordeaux Right Bank appellation red wines are characterized by pepper, spice, and mint tasting notes. The best Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blends display ripe fruit expressions with balanced acidity. 

In the Saint Emilion appellation, vineyards have crafted exquisite Premier Grand Cru wines even during this taxing year. The Chateau Ausone En Primeur wine, dubbed the ‘wine of the vintage’ by Robert Parker, belongs to Saint Emilion.

Here are the best 2021 Bordeaux En Primeur Right Bank wines (with their wine scores):

• Chateau Ausone - 97 to 100 (Robert Parker)
• Chateau Cheval Blanc - 95 to 97 (Robert Parker), 96-98 (Vinous)
• Chateau Figeac - 94 to 97 (Robert Parker)
• Chateau Canon - 94 to 96 (Robert Parker)
• Pensees de Lafleur - 94 to 96 (Robert Parker)
• Vieux Chateau Certan - 96 to 98 (Vinous)
• Chateau La Conseillante - 94 to 96 (The Drinks Business)

Investing in Bordeaux 2021 Wines through Vinovest  

Despite being a challenging vintage, the 2021 Bordeaux En Primeur campaign offers ample opportunities for savvy collectors to invest in fine wine futures. As the vintage quality relies on the producer's skills, understanding the wineries and their vinification practices could help you find the best wines.

While most samples were muted and dull at the En Primeur tasting, they are likely to develop complex flavors and a vibrant character after cellaring for a few years. 

Also, the low yields will drive more demand once the wines are aged. With limited production (about 60 to 80% lower than average in some appellations), the 2021 vintage presents an unmissable chance for buyers to invest in scarce fine wine futures. 

Besides the evolving red wines, Bordeaux’s whites of the year, with their exceptional palate and elegant aging potential, are outstanding En Primeur futures that deserve your attention.

If you’re hoping to secure these gains and build a profitable wine portfolio, check out the Vinovest website. Vinovest is an AI-powered wine investment platform that lets you buy, store, and sell the finest wines from a Bordeaux negociant or other reputed merchants from around the world. 

• Vinovest sources latest vintage wines directly from authorized merchants and wineries in New York, San Francisco, New Zealand, and marketplaces like Place de Bordeaux. 

• Stores your wine bottle collection in bonded warehouses under optimal temperature and humidity conditions.

• Lets you track the progress of your portfolio to ensure you secure maximum returns.

• Finds the ideal buyers for your labels using the platform’s extensive global network.

Add a 2021 Bordeaux Gem to Your Collection

The 2021 Bordeaux vintage is tricky and complex. However, it yielded remarkable results for astute winemakers. 

While the overall vintage quality may not inspire confidence, a few hidden gems can be worthy additions to your collection. 

If you wish to leverage the possibilities of the Bordeaux En Primeur 2021, sign up with Vinovest and start building your profitable fine wine portfolio today!