2018 Bordeaux Vintage

A wet winter set the scene: December and January each saw 155mm of rain, against 30-year averages of 106mm and 87mm, and March was wet and a degree chillier than average. Budbreak came in early April, and the spring was soggy. The rain was not especially heavy in April, May and June compared with the norm, but after such a wet winter the threat of mildew was the strongest for decades, with the risk of contamination severe from mid-April onwards. Flowering in late May and June went well. After rain and storms at the end of June and around 4 July, the sun shone through July, August and September, giving three complete months of sunny, dry weather from early July through to early October. June, July, August and September were all considerably warmer than average, and maximum temperatures topped 35 degrees C on five days in a row in early August. It was the hottest summer in Margaux since 2003, and September was one of the sunniest for more than 60 years, with zero rot during harvest. Hail did damage in two bursts: a late May storm tracked from Pessac-Leognan toward the southern Haut-Medoc before hitting Bourg and Blaye, affecting several thousand hectares, and hailstorms on 15 July struck Sauternes and the southern end of the Haut-Medoc again. Some Sauvignon Blanc was picked as early as August 21, and the red harvest began with the earliest Merlot parcels around 17 September. The busiest weeks for Merlot and Cabernet were the second half of September and the start of October, and the wide harvest window let some properties pick very early and others finish very late. The overall crop came to around five million hectolitres, or 666 million bottles, pretty much spot-on the 10-year average.

Mildew was the price of the wet first half. Many organic and biodynamic vineyards were hit badly, and conventionally farmed vineyards that missed vital sprayings also suffered considerable losses. Some estates saw yields down to 12 hectolitres per hectare and below, mainly from mildew and also hail, and some unlucky Sauternes estates were down to 5hl/ha or less. Among biodynamic properties, Palmer came in at 11hl/ha, Durfort Vivens at 10hl/ha and Pontet Canet at 12hl/ha, while Haut Bages Liberale in Pauillac, also biodynamic, had yields of 45hl/ha. At Pontet Canet, Alfred Tesseron, of the owning family, told Decanter he was confident he made the right choice in 2018 even if it meant losing two thirds of the crop: "We still want to reflect the truth of our terroir, and when you believe in something, you follow it through." Across the region, yields were generally good for Merlot and lower on the whole from the smaller berries of Cabernet Sauvignon, and over-concentration from the ongoing sunshine reduced the eventual harvest by an estimated 10%.

• Palmer 11hl/ha, Durfort Vivens 10hl/ha and Pontet Canet 12hl/ha, all biodynamic
• Haut Bages Liberale in Pauillac, also biodynamic, had yields of 45hl/ha
• Some unlucky Sauternes estates fell to 5hl/ha or less
• Overall crop around five million hectolitres, close to the 10-year average despite mildew and hail

Decanter's critic found 2018 a great Cabernet year in many instances on the Left Bank, though some Cabernets got overly ripe and some wines fall down on typicity, while on the Right Bank Merlots reached depths of flavour that are rarely seen and the St-Emilion wines definitely rival the brilliant 2015s. Vines on clay soils generally coped better with the hot summer than those on gravel, which sometimes became blocked. Alcohols ran high: St-Estephe wines at 15% abv were unusual, and Mouton and Pichon Baron were among the many Pauillacs to record their highest alcohols ever. Merlot, 66% of Bordeaux's plantings, showed vivid colour, ripe fruit and impressive concentration in the CIVB's own assessment, and the Cabernets delivered definition and beautiful structure. Dry white picking started calmly in the final week of August, and in Sauternes a late onset of botrytis after the dry summer was followed by rapid development that brought the harvest forward by about two weeks.

• Clay soils generally coped better with the hot summer than gravel
• Mouton and Pichon Baron recorded their highest alcohols ever; St-Estephe wines at 15% abv were unusual
• Dry white picking started in the final week of August
• Sauternes harvest came forward by about two weeks after rapid noble rot development

Decanter rated the reds 4.5 out of 5, with pockets of brilliance but not fully consistent, called 2018 a Gold year with pockets of Silver and some very clear pockets of Bronze, named Lafite Rothschild the Left Bank wine of the vintage and Cheval Blanc the Right Bank wine, and scored Beausejour Duffau-Lagarrosse, Cheval Blanc, Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Palmer, Pichon Comtesse, Trotanoy and Vieux Chateau Certan at 98-100 from barrel. At Chateau Lafleur in Pomerol, Omri Ram said: "There are a lot of tannins in 2018, no question, because the berries were small and concentrated, whether from mildew or due to the heat." Decanter's critic found that the high alcohols had in many cases wrapped the tannins up in silk, making the wines approachable, with drinking dates that start earlier than in many vintages, though relatively high pH levels were flagged, particularly in the Medoc. Quinney's early read was "2016 plus plus", and the CIVB calls 2018 a generous, fleshy vintage with ageing potential of 15 to 25 years.