Wine's world

The 2021 harvest was historically low in France, lower than those of 1991 or 2017, as a direct consequence of widespread spring frosts (April 2021) and also of the regular reduction in the area under vines.

The two grape varieties most affected are the earliest: Chardonnay for white wines and Merlot for red wines.

Taking the average of the previous 5 vintages (2016 to 2020) as a reference, the loss of production amounts to -18% throughout France, with unequal situations depending on the region:

-74% in the Jura
-49% in Bourgogne-Beaujolais
- 33% in the South West
- 27% in Bordeaux
- 26% in the Loire Valley
- 23% in Savoie
- 22% in Languedoc-Roussillon
- 17% in Alsace
- 9% in the South East

The only vineyard spared in 2021: Corsica (+9%).

[Agreste data - Ministry of Agriculture]

Every year since 1988, the Wine Spectator has published its list of the 100 most exciting wines among the thousands tasted during the year (12,500 in 2021!). This ranking, which includes promising new winemakers as well as traditional wineries used to the podiums, is based on three criteria:

•     the quality of the wines (based on the score obtained in tasting),
•     their value (based on price),
•     and their availability in the United States (thus excluding certain confidential wines that are not, or only slightly, imported into the United States).

This year's Top 100 features the United States (33 vintages), Italy (23 vintages) and France (17 vintages), thanks to the very high quality of recent vintages.

We are pleased to note that four vintages currently in our catalogue are included in the 2021 list, two of which are in the Top 10:

2nd : Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2018 (Pauillac)
7th : Château Léoville-Poyferré 2018 (Saint-Julien)
13th : Château Carbonnieux blanc 2018 (Pessac-Léognan)
76th : Louis Roederer Collection 242 (Champagne)

Furthermore, when compiling the top 10 wines from each of the last 10 rankings (from 2012 to 2021), we note that many of the estates usually present in our selections are praised:

• Bollinger : 10th for the Grande Année 2012 (podium 2020)
• Château Climens : 4th for its vintage 2013 (podium 2016)
• Château Coutet : 3rd for its vintage 2014 (podium 2017)
• Château Smith-Haut-Lafitte : 9th for its vintage 2013 white (podium 2016)
• Château Léoville-Poyferré : 7th for its vintage 2018 (podium 2021)
• Château Léoville-Barton : 6th for its vintage 2009 (podium 2012) and 1st (!) for its vintage 2016 (podium 2019)
• Château Léoville-Las Cases : 10th for its vintage 2011 (podium 2014)
• Château Pichon-Comtesse : 2nd for its vintage 2018 (podium 2021)
• Château Pichon-Baron : 8th for its vintage 2016 (podium 2019)
• Clos Fourtet : 9th for its vintage 2012 (podium 2015)
• Château Canon-La Gaffelière : 2nd for its vintage 2010 (podium 2013), 7th for its vintage 2014 (podium 2017) and 2nd again for its vintage 2015 (podium 2018)
• Tenuta delle Terre Nere,  : 9th for the San Lorenzo 2016 (podium 2018)

Climens, this Barsac 1er cru classé, praised for over 40 years for the airy grace of its sweet wines, has just suffered an incredible series of climatic accidents (successive frosts and hailstorms).

In 5 years, Climens has had 4 vintages without being able to produce a single bottle: 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021.

The only surviving vintage: 2019, for a tiny harvest (1000 cases announced whereas the normal production is around 4000 cases per year). It will be released in the course of next year.

All our support to Bérénice Lurton and all her team so that Climens finally finds its full production in 2022 in order to delight us again with its sublime delicacy.