Comptoir des Millésimes' opinion on the 2015 vintage
2015 was an exceptional vintage. Globally, we will retain the great capacity of keeping, a strong character. A very hot year with a lot of sun. The heat wave was still present that year during the month of July. A wonderful vintage for Alsace, the acidity was resistant to the heat, the wines are balanced. A marvellous year for the Bordeaux vineyards, as well as for the red Burgundies. The Northern Rhône had an almost perfect year, the wines are magnificent. The Southern Rhône also did very well, but it was more variable than in the North. The Châteauneuf-du-Pape and the white wines are very successful and have a great future for this vintage. Would you like to know more? Discover all our advices in the following paragraph!
How was the 2015 vintage in the different wine regions?
Is the 2015 vintage a year that is close to your heart? Is it a year of birth, a year of marriage or any other symbol that makes you want to offer or drink a wine from this year? We will decipher this vintage for you to help you buy the bottle that will best suit your needs.
The 2015 vintage in BORDEAUX
Bordeaux lovers are going to be served with this very great vintage, which some experts will even call the vintage of the century. It must be said that everything was gathered to produce a vintage of anthology.
Nature did everything right that year. As early as April, all the indicators were green! A dry and warm weather allowed the vines to start flowering prematurely, which allowed a homogeneous and complete development on the whole vineyard. Then comes the month of July, which will also meet the expectations of the vine by providing enough sun and heat to obtain a perfect launch of veraison. The small plus of this vintage is that in winter, the Bordeaux soil stored enough rain to build up reserves and to be able to redistribute them to the vines in order to avoid too much water stress. The months of August and September are in the continuity of this magnificent vintage 2015. Hot and dry, ideal for a good ripening of the grapes, without too heavy and hot days. A very good balance is starting to develop. The harvest took place in a perfect sanitary state with some rains at certain dates, but which do not engage the quality of the vintage.
Overall, the 2015 vintage is a very great vintage in the Bordeaux vineyards but some appellations fared a little better. Even if it must be said that everything is good in the 2015.
This year will therefore be under the sign of the left bank. The warm and early summer will have allowed the Cabernet Sauvignon to reach degrees of ripeness above average, a sign of rich and powerful juice. If we want to be more precise, the appellations of Margaux and Pessac-Léognan hold the rope. The latter avoided the rains in September that other appellations a little further north were unable to avoid.
On the right bank, the vintage is also very good. The Châteaux just needed to work a little harder to produce finer Merlot rather than seeking too much extraction which could have been fatal to the quality and complexity of the wines.
As far as sweet wines are concerned, once again, the 2015 vintage is a great one. Rains in September will have allowed the launch of a little rot on the Sauternes area, completed with a warm summer without too much humidity. Adequate conditions for the production of a very nice sweet wine.
The 2015 vintage has a very good ageing potential thanks to its balance, power and freshness. It is therefore preferable to wait for its great wines until 2025, which would make them 10 years old. It is really the minimum to wait to be able to taste wines a little melted. On the other hand, if you have the right cellar, don't hesitate to wait much longer. 2030 for example would be a good start to open your wines.
If you want to complete your cellar with wines from 2015, we have some nuggets to suggest.
On Margaux for example, the Château Palmer 2015 is among the best rated of the vintage with a 98/100 Robert Parker. The aging of more than twenty months in barrels gives all the complexity and substance necessary to the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. An aromatic power wrapped in a velvety and silky unmatched.
Château Larrivet Haut Brion 2015 is a rising star in the appellation. Even though the property is well known to wine lovers, this is still a Petit Poucet that deserves to be tasted. The power and opulence with its terroir aromas make it a very great Pessac-Léognan wine.
Let's go to the other bank and more precisely to Saint-Emilion. We could have described to you the most beautiful wines of the appellation that we own but we made the choice of the discovery, of the almost unbeatable quality-price ratio. We want to tell you about Château Côte de Baleau 2015.
Owned by the Cuvelier family, this wine became a Grand Cru Classé in 2012 thanks to the very precise work in the vineyard and in the cellars. Composed mostly of Merlot, then complemented with some Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon, the wine gives off aromas of black fruits, toast and notes of roasting. Its power announces a very long ageing. Everything to please wine lovers.
To finish with a touch of greed, we will present you Château Climens.
This Chateau is not located in Sauternes but more precisely in Barsac, however it takes advantage of the Botrytis to produce sweet wines. This 30 hectare property carries out long maturations in barrels, which gives it a certain power that accompanies the nervousness and the aromatic richness of the Barsac wines. For those who love to age wines for a long time, this is the place to be.
The 2015 vintage in BURGUNDY
After the anthology of Bordeaux, we can speak of a mythical vintage for the 2015 vintage to which we find some similarities with the 2005 vintage.
The year 2015 was fantastic for the winegrowers of Burgundy who quickly understood it. The very early flowering, which took place in only a few days, announced a potential harvest at the end of August/beginning of September (the winegrowers know that there are about 100 days between the flowering and the harvest). Only, the winegrowers had a few cold sweats, well hot, because July was so hot and dry, even scorching, that the vines lacked water. This had an immediate effect and the ripening of the grapes stopped abruptly, waiting for some humidity and water to start again. A few rains in August will allow this to happen and the ripening of the grapes will start again in a dazzling way. The grapes were then beautiful and healthy and the vineyard had a beautiful homogeneity in its development. The harvest took place between the end of August and the beginning of September, depending on the winemaker. Everyone knew at that precise moment that the wines would be of great quality. The balance between the measured sugar level, the aromas that emerged and the acidity that was present announced a great potential.
The only downside was the volume that the winemakers were going to bring into the cellars. Because of the high temperatures at the time of flowering, the vines will undergo millerandage (i.e. a different development of the grapes on the same bunch of wine), which will result in a less interesting wine yield. On the other hand, the quality is good.
The Pinot Noir are generally very good everywhere, on the other hand, it is not the same thing for the Chardonnay. This earlier grape variety will force the winegrowers to make a decision about the date of harvest. Some winemakers, afraid of over-ripening, will bring forward the harvest date and sometimes harvest grapes that will give wines that are too tense or almost "vegetal".
Others, on the contrary, will harvest too late, looking for the perfect maturity of the grapes and will give wines too rich in alcohol, unbalanced. These wines are generally fruitier but need to be drunk more quickly.
As for its ageing potential, as for the rest of the French vineyard, the 2015 vintage can be kept for a few more years.
Both red and white wines, if well chosen, will offer great tastings within 6-8 years minimum.
If you are in the mood for some Burgundy wines, we have what you need!
In red, here is our selection:
On the Côte de Nuits, the Nuit Saint Georges premier cru Les Poulettes from Domaine Bouchard Père et Fils is magnificent. It remains affordable in terms of price because it is true that with the notoriety of Burgundy wines and the low yields, prices can sometimes go up very high. This red is powerful, very mineral and will give you fine and delicate aromas within a decade.
You can also go for a red a little further south. The emblematic Jacques Prieur proposes a Beaune-Greves 1er cru of great beauty.
His Pinot Noir is complex with light spice and berry notes but has immense length in the mouth.
For white wines, we can't do without the wines of Domaine Blain Gagnard. He vinifies just sublime Batard Montrachet. It is already difficult to get hold of them, we only have a few bottles per year. The wine has aromas of white fruits and white truffles with a touch of minerality. Fat, fresh and very long in the mouth, its ageing potential is monumental. So yes, you have to pay the price, but the wine is worth it.
For a more affordable price, or even much more affordable, we have Meursault les Clous from Domaine Bouchard Père et Fils. Rated an honorable 92/100, it offers everything white Burgundy lovers ask for. Finesse, creaminess and volume. Really top!
The 2015 VALLÉE DU RHÔNE Vintage
We will continue with the same praise for the 2015 vintage. This is considered to be the or one of the best vintages ever produced in the Rhone Valley. It is true that this vintage has everything to be one of the greatest because it brings together all the parameters necessary to produce a magnificent wine. And even if the southern part is of a very high quality, it is true that the northern part stands out, especially the red wines. A bit like Bordeaux and Burgundy, the flowering was early, with very sunny months of April, May and June. Then, the heat wave appeared in July to allow the grapes to gorge themselves with sugar. Fortunately, the rains in August calmed down the heat and balanced the different maturities of the grapes.
As far as the northern part of the Rhone Valley is concerned, all the appellations are fantastic but it is true that the wines of Côte-Rôtie as well as Hermitage are a notch above. The 2015 vintage manages to combine the organoleptic power of the wines with the finesse and silkiness of a not too heavy vintage. In the Côte-Rôtie appellation, we have some incredible wines like:
Guigal's 2015 La Mouline. Rated 98/100 by parker, this gem of a Syrah combines the minerality of the soils with the richness of the fruit. The length in the mouth is just crazy! We will have to wait many more years before tasting it at its true value. On Hermitage, the 2015 Maison bleue vintage from Paul Aîné Jaboulet is very interesting. Maison bleue is the new cuvée name for Jaboulet's Little Chapel. The syrah comes from the Méal plots, the most beautiful plot on the Hermitage hillside.
For the wines of the southern Rhone Valley, the weather is the same, except that in the south, the heat is always a little stronger. The different grapes that can be used to make red wines give more powerful and stronger wines. Combined with the scorching heat, this results in wines with a rather impressive tannic matter. But finally, after a few tastings, the wines turn out to be finer and have a certain suppleness that other very good vintages do not have. In very hot years like this 2015 vintage, it is often the white wines that suffer a little because of the lack of freshness and therefore balance.
These are very nice to drink now, with a massive density in the mouth, which makes for very nice food and wine pairings. In this southern part of the Rhone, we have some beautiful bottles.
One of the most beautiful bottles will surely be Henri Bonneau's 2015 La réserve des Célestins.
Rated 95-97/100, this cuvée is not produced every year. It comes from the best parcels vinified in the best years only. Then, after a traditional vinification, the juice is aged in old tuns for 3 to 5 years. A pure marvel of power and depth with aromas of peppers and black fruits.
If this cuvée is not for everyone, we have an interesting quality-price ratio available. Domaine Beaurenard 2015 Châteauneuf du Pape. It brings together everything the Chateauneuf lover is asking for. Power, density and warmth. Complemented by a soft and round finish. Of course, the wine is to be enjoyed within 5-8 years...
The 2015 vintage in the rest of France
Champagne will benefit from the same climatic conditions as Burgundy. A hot summer and rains at the end of August to swell the grapes. Ideal conditions for Pinot Noir, more than for Chardonnay. Great houses will produce vintage Champagnes 2015, which we will have to wait with patience. In the Loire, we could almost speak of the vintage of the century! The summer was a little less hot than elsewhere and brought more freshness and balance to the grapes. But unfortunately, heavier rainfall spoiled the game. The grapes that came in under the rain are therefore a little less qualitative than expected, but still remain of a very good level.
Buy a great wine from the 2015 vintage
Comptoir des Millésimes' selection of the Great Wines of 2015. Treat yourself to a unique tasting of a bottle of 2015 vintage wine. Buy bottles of 2015 wine at the best price. 2015 Bordeaux, 2015 Burgundy, 2015 red wine, 2015 white wine..., find the 2015 vintage wines you are looking for. Buying 2015 wine has never been easier with a flat shipping fee of €7 no matter how many bottles of 2015 you buy.
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