2019 Wine

2019 Wine

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Born of a hot, dry summer tempered by cool nights, the 2019 vintage produced ripe, concentrated wines with lively acidity in almost every region. It is a year of rare consistency, ranking alongside the finest recent vintages for both reds and whites. Structured reds—from both banks of Bordeaux, the Côte de Nuits and Côte-Rôtie—need a little patience in the cellar, while dry whites and sweet wines are ready sooner. The northern Rhône Valley reaches one of its peaks with Delas La Landonne 2019, and Burgundy brings all its intensity to rare grand crus such as Mugneret-Gibourg Ruchottes-Chambertin 2019. To see where 2019 stands among the great years, keep the SoDivin Vintage Guide close at hand.

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Bordeaux Classified Growths

Bordeaux Classified Growths
Top-Rated Wines of 2019

Top-Rated Wines of 2019
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Our Vintage Guide

Our Vintage Guide

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The FAQ

How good is the 2019 vintage, and should you cellar it?

2019 is an excellent vintage—warm but balanced, and successful in most French regions. The summer heat produced ripe, rich wines, while cool nights preserved the acidity that gives them freshness and longevity. The most structured reds—Côte de Nuits grands crus, Côte-Rôtie and Bordeaux reds—benefit from a few years in the cellar to soften. Dry whites, such as those from Domaine Marcel Deiss in Alsace, and sweet wines are already a pleasure to drink and can also be kept for many years. Every bottle is inspected and stored in our cellar conditions before shipping.

Does a 2019 wine make a good birth-year gift?

It’s an ideal way to mark a birth year. Still young in 2026, wines from 2019 have a long evolution ahead of them: giving a bottle from that year means giving a wine that will grow alongside the person it celebrates. For a gift to open soon, a great Alsace white or a Condrieu already offers plenty of brilliance. For long-term cellaring, a Burgundy red grand cru or a Côte-Rôtie can accompany a child born in 2019 through life’s major milestones. Every bottle is shipped with the utmost care.

Which 2019 wines should you choose for your plans?

It all depends on what you have in mind. For a cellar built for aging, the ripe, structured 2019 Bordeaux classified growths are among the year’s safest choices, alongside the great reds of the Côte de Nuits and Côte-Rôtie wines from the northern Rhône. For more immediate enjoyment, Alsace grands crus, Condrieu and sweet wines are already appealing. To compare 2019 with other great vintages and find bottles at their peak, consult our Vintage Guide.

The 2019 vintage: a warm, ripe year of rare consistency

The 2019 vintage will be remembered as one of the French wine regions’ great recent successes. After a mild winter came a hot, dry summer, with heat spikes in June and July, tempered by cool nights through to harvest. This alternation allowed the grapes to ripen fully while retaining the acidity that gives the wines freshness and aging potential. The result is remarkably consistent across regions: concentrated, balanced wines built to last, from Bordeaux to Alsace. Where winemakers managed the heat well, 2019 produced bottles among the decade’s most accomplished.

Bordeaux 2019 — Ripe, structured reds from both banks

In Bordeaux, 2019 was a warm, sunny year that produced rich, dense wines with fine tannic structure. From the Médoc to Pessac-Léognan, the Left Bank produced reds that are more structured and classical than in 2018, driven by ripe Cabernet grapes, with Pauillac and Saint-Julien leading the way. On the Right Bank, Merlot in Pomerol and Saint-Émilion reached excellent ripeness, yielding generous, fleshy wines lifted by slightly more pronounced acidity than the previous year. The Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences ranked 2019 among Bordeaux’s very great years, though not quite at the heights of 2016 or 2010. It is therefore a reliable, consistent vintage for cellaring, best approached without haste.

SoDivin’s Bordeaux selection is deliberately focused and discerning. It highlights L'If, a Saint-Émilion of great purity made by the Thienpont family and considered one of their finest successes of the vintage, as well as Le Petit Mouton, the second wine of Château Mouton Rothschild, which offers an elegant introduction to the Pauillac style. The year’s classified growths feature among the great Bordeaux wines, best reserved for those who appreciate long-term aging.

Aging potential: still young, the great 2019 reds will keep for ten to twenty years; decant them well in advance if opening them now.

Burgundy 2019 — Low yields, remarkable concentration

Burgundy experienced drought and very low yields in 2019, and that is precisely where the vintage’s strength lies. An early-April frost, especially in the Côte de Beaune, followed by a cold spell that disrupted flowering in June, reduced the harvest and produced small, thick-skinned berries. The resulting wines have rare concentration, with rich fruit matched by lively acidity that keeps them taut and precise. Among the reds, the Côte de Nuits shines particularly brightly, with wines combining finesse, vibrancy and depth. The less plentiful whites are ripe and balanced, richer than in 2017.

The red grand crus of the Côte de Nuits are at the heart of the year’s Burgundy selection. Domaine Anne Gros makes a Richebourg with a remarkably long finish, while Mugneret-Gibourg crafts a taut, distinctive Ruchottes-Chambertin destined to evolve over many years. The Grands-Echezeaux from Domaine Gros Frère & Sœur emphasizes power, while the Vosne-Romanée from Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux expresses the vintage’s velvety character in a more immediately approachable style. These are rare bottles sought after by lovers of great Burgundy.

Aging potential: the red grand crus need ten to twenty years in the cellar; village-level cuvées open up earlier, showing their fruit.

Northern Rhône Valley 2019 — Côte-Rôtie at the year’s pinnacle

In the northern Rhône, 2019 is a warm, powerful vintage and a marked improvement on 2018. The heat produced dense, ripe Syrahs, with Côte-Rôtie faring best and yielding some of the finest wines of the entire year. Freshness made the difference: the best terroirs produced profound reds that are both fleshy and balanced. Among the whites, Condrieu was more uneven, but the great hillside sites yielded rich, saline Viogniers of impressive precision. This is a standout region of the vintage for lovers of characterful wines.

Côte-Rôtie naturally leads the selection. Delas makes a La Landonne from the schist soils of the Côte Brune, dense, smoky and built to age, while Domaine Christophe Pichon offers a more supple, floral expression of the Côte Blonde. Among the whites, Coteau de Vernon by Georges Vernay takes Condrieu Viognier to one of its highest levels, in a generous, mineral style made to age.

Aging potential: the great Côte-Rôtie Syrahs need five to ten years and will last twenty; Condrieu is generally best enjoyed young.

Alsace 2019 — Ripe grand crus and late-harvest wines

Alsace is one of the regions where careful selection pays off most in 2019. The year was warm and sunny, but cool nights late in the season preserved the wines’ freshness, resulting in ripe, concentrated whites without heaviness. Riesling and Gewurztraminer grand crus gained impressive depth from sites such as Schoenenbourg, Altenberg de Bergheim and Spiegel. In the most favorable plots, extended ripening made it possible to produce rare late-harvest wines: sweet wines made from overripe grapes, sometimes affected by botrytis, the noble rot that concentrates sugars and aromas. This is an approachable, reliable region, ideal for discovering great age-worthy whites.

Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss showcases the year’s finesse in its Gewurztraminers, while Domaine Dirler-Cadé expresses Spiegel in both a finely etched dry Riesling and a late-harvest Gewurztraminer. Domaine Marcel Deiss, remaining faithful to its practice of mixed planting, makes remarkably dense grand crus from Schoenenbourg and Altenberg de Bergheim. These bottles offer an appealing and rewarding introduction to the whites of 2019.

Aging potential: dry grand crus can age for ten years or more; late-harvest wines, already delicious, can be kept for several decades.

Languedoc-Roussillon 2019 — Southern sunshine balanced by altitude and old vines

In the South, 2019 was a sunny, dry year that produced concentrated, generous wines. Success depended on estates’ ability to preserve freshness despite the heat, aided by altitude, schist soils and old vines. In Roussillon and the Languedoc hinterland alike, the best wines combine dense, ripe fruit with welcome freshness. These are characterful wines that reward curious drinkers.

In Roussillon, Domaine Gauby grows its old vines on the schistous hillsides of Calce: its Vieilles Vignes cuvée and single-vineyard La Muntada yield profound, structured wines that are surprisingly fresh for the vintage. Farther west, Domaine Alain Chabanon makes Languedoc wines in a precise, easy-drinking style. These cuvées carry the ripe, balanced character of 2019 into the South.

Aging potential: drink now for their fruit or keep old-vine cuvées for five to ten years.

Buying a 2019 wine: how to choose

The 2019 vintage is for anyone who loves ripe, generous years without sacrificing balance. It is a reliable choice: the finest bottles—Côte-Rôtie, Côte de Nuits grand crus and Bordeaux reds—will continue to improve, while Alsace grand crus, Condrieu and sweet wines already offer real pleasure. To compare 2019 with other great years and find bottles at their peak, keep the SoDivin Vintage Guide close at hand. Every 2019 bottle is selected, inspected and stored in our cellar conditions before prompt, careful shipping, so you can buy with confidence.

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