Bordeaux 2016 is enjoying the spotlight these days. Two weeks ago, Wine Spectator named the 2016 St Julien, Leoville Barton, its #1 wine of the year. James Suckling also announced his top 100 French wines of the year this week, giving Cos d’Estournel 2016 the top prize.
In a report published yesterday, Jeb Dunnuck disclosed his favourite 100 red wines reviewed in 2019, placing the 2016 Saint Emilion, Chateau Sansonnet, in the top spot.
The 2016s from Napa Valley and Bordeaux dominate Dunnuck’s list, which is “based on combination of overall quality, price, availability, and a little bit of Wow Factor”.
Dunnuck’s Wine of the Year has already seen trade this morning. In his tasting note, the critic claimed that the Sansonnet 2016 is “a gem in the vintage and is well worth a case purchase”. The wine displays “a saturated ruby color as well as a beautiful bouquet of macerated black cherries, blackcurrants, smoked earth, spice, and tobacco”.
Other wines from the highly acclaimed Bordeaux 2016 vintage that make up Dunnuck’s top ten include Lynsolence, Poesia (Saint Emilion) and Calon Segur.
Two 2017s from the Southern Rhone, a vintage Dunnuck describes as ‘terrific’, also feature in the table above. Saint Prefert, Chateauneuf Du Pape Reserve Auguste Favier in second place is “just about perfection in a glass”, according to the critic, while Clos Saint Jean in tenth place is “structured, focused [and] age-worthy”.
The top wines of the Southern Rhone continue to offer the cheapest entry point for still wines into the fine wine market.
To see Dunnuck’s full rankings of the top 100 red wines of 2019, click here.
