The Best Bordeaux Vintages, From an Estate That Opened Sixty in a Row

The Bordeaux vintages most often named as the finest of the last half century are 1982, 1989, 1990, 2000, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2022, and on the Right Bank 1998 belongs alongside them. We have a better reason than most to say so. On 1 August 2026 we opened sixty consecutive vintages, from 1966 to 2025, and tasted them side by side at Château Méaume. The wines our guests talked about most were 2009, 2005, 1998 and 1989, and it was the two older ones that surprised the room.

Which Bordeaux vintages are the best?

Most vintage charts agree on the headline years. Jancis Robinson's red Bordeaux vintage guide calls 1982 "legendary, the first of the modern era", describes 2005 as "textbook perfection during the growing season in all respects other than price", and notes that tasters voted 2019 the best of the previous ten years. 2009 was ripe and generous, 2010 had more tannin and freshness than 2009, and 2016 is counted among the finest recent years.

What a single chart can hide is that Bordeaux is not one vineyard. The Right Bank, around Saint-Émilion and Pomerol, is Merlot country on clay and limestone. The Left Bank, in the Médoc and Graves, leans on Cabernet Sauvignon grown on gravel. The same summer can suit one far better than the other. The same guide rates 1998 "very good on the right bank but a less starry performance in the Médoc", and says the Right Bank's moisture-holding clay soils helped it through the heat of 2022.

So the most useful answer depends on what you drink. If you love Merlot-led Bordeaux from Saint-Émilion, Pomerol or the estates around them, including ours, put 1998 and 1989 on your list next to the famous names.

What did sixty vintages side by side teach us?

Seventy guests travelled from France, the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States for the tasting, which ran for six hours from six in the evening. Forty-nine of the wines came from our own cellar and covered every vintage from 1977 to 2025, through the years under Alan Johnson-Hill and then Mark and Sandra. The first eleven, from 1966 to 1976, came from two neighbouring Saint-Émilion châteaux, so the table held one unbroken run of sixty Bordeaux harvests from the same small corner of the Right Bank. You can read the full story of the evening in our account of the sixty-vintage tasting.

The wines most widely favoured on the night were 2009, 2005, 1998 and 1989, and the bottles from those four years were among the first to be finished. Nobody was surprised by 2009 and 2005. Both are celebrated years across Bordeaux, and both showed the depth, balance and life everyone hoped for.

The talking points were the two older wines. The 1998 was discussed by guests all evening, and nearly three decades on it showed exactly why a strong Right Bank year is worth waiting for. The 1989 was the quieter success, with the maturity you would expect from a wine of that age and an energy you might not. As Mark put it afterwards, "The 1998 and 1989, in particular, reminded everyone that a good Bordeaux can give enormous pleasure many years after it was made."

Several of the most celebrated wines, including 1982, 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2022, were poured from magnums. Larger bottles age more slowly, so the wine has more time to develop while it holds on to its freshness, which is worth remembering if you are buying to keep.

Which vintages showed their age?

A tasting like this is only useful if it shows the whole picture, so we did not set out to make every wine look good. The wines from the 1970s generally showed their age more clearly than those from the 1960s. Apart from 1970, which Jancis Robinson describes as producing "firm, sturdy wines" that "have lasted well", the decade is not usually counted among Bordeaux's strongest, and the glasses in front of us agreed.

That contrast made the good bottles stand out even more. Tasted one after another, the wines showed the effect of the weather in each year, changes in how the vineyard was planted and worked, and new approaches in the cellar. The lesson for anyone buying older Bordeaux is a simple one: reputation matters, but so do the grower, the bottle size and how the wine has been kept.

Is 2021 a good Bordeaux vintage?

2021 was one of the hardest recent years to grow grapes in Bordeaux. Bud burst came early after a sunny March, and severe frosts in early April destroyed many of the young buds. Decanter reported that the 2021 harvest was 20% below the ten-year average, with red wine yields in Saint-Émilion, Pomerol and Fronsac down 21%, before the region enjoyed its sunniest October since 1991 at harvest time.

The result is a lighter, fresher style than the powerful years either side of it, and critics have been cautious: Jancis Robinson's guide advises giving 2021 "a wide berth". For most people the sensible approach is to treat 2021 as a vintage for drinking over the next few years rather than for long keeping, and to choose producers whose wines you already know. Our own 2021 was on the table in August alongside the other fifty-nine.

Which Bordeaux vintages are worth buying and drinking now?

The table below brings together the critics' view and what we saw at the tasting, for the years that mattered most on the night.

Vintage	What the critics say	What we found in August 2026
1982	"Legendary", the first vintage of the modern era	Poured from magnum as one of the most celebrated wines of the night
1989	A hot summer that gave rich, opulent wines, with some very good Right Bank wines	One of the four favourites: mature, with real energy
1998	Very good on the Right Bank, less starry in the Médoc	The wine guests talked about all evening
2005	"Textbook perfection" in the growing season	One of the four favourites, poured from magnum
2009	Ripe, generous and widely celebrated	One of the four favourites, poured from magnum
2010	More tannin and freshness than 2009	Poured from magnum among the celebrated years
2021	Frost-hit and lighter, with critics cautious	Poured with the other fifty-nine
2022	Deep, powerful wines, with the Right Bank's clay soils coping better with the heat	Poured from magnum among the celebrated years

Critics' comments are from Jancis Robinson's red Bordeaux vintage guide and Decanter, linked above.

If you are buying older Bordeaux, provenance matters as much as the year on the label, because a great vintage stored badly will disappoint. Larger formats are worth the extra cost for wines you plan to keep, for the reason our magnums showed. Once a bottle is open, give it time: we decant our own wine for 30 to 60 minutes and serve it at 16 to 18°C in a large Bordeaux glass.

If you want something to open this weekend rather than lay down, a recent vintage is the better choice. Our Merlot-led Bordeaux Supérieur is approachable two to three years after the vintage, most years develop well over five to ten years, and the best will age gracefully for fifteen years or more. You can see the current releases and the critics' scores on our Right Bank Bordeaux wines page.

Where can you taste older Bordeaux vintages?

The best way to understand what a vintage does over time is to taste it where it was made, with the people who made it. Every stay in our 18th century farmhouse on the vineyard includes a session in our cellar, usually with the current vintage and something older if we have it open. The farmhouse sleeps up to ten, sits among the vines 15 minutes from Pomerol and 25 minutes from Saint-Émilion, and makes a good base for exploring the Right Bank at a slower pace. It is a working estate, so it suits adults, and you will want a car.

If you would rather taste without staying, we are happy to arrange a tasting at the château, and if you are building a collection, ask us about older vintages. September is a particularly good time to visit, when the harvest is under way and you can see where each new vintage begins, as we describe in our guide to a Bordeaux harvest holiday.

Quick answers

What is the best Bordeaux vintage of the last fifty years? There is no single answer, but 1982, 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2016 appear near the top of most lists. On the Right Bank, 1998 and 1989 deserve a place alongside them.

Is 1998 a good Bordeaux vintage? Yes, especially on the Right Bank. It was very good in Saint-Émilion and Pomerol and less consistent in the Médoc, and at our sixty-vintage tasting it was the wine guests talked about most.

Is 2021 a good Bordeaux vintage? It was a difficult, frost-hit year that produced lighter, fresher wines. Most are best enjoyed over the next few years rather than kept for decades.

Do magnums age better than bottles? They age more slowly, so the wine develops over a longer period while keeping its freshness. That is why several of the celebrated vintages at our tasting were poured from magnums.

How long does Château Méaume age? It is approachable two to three years after the vintage, most years develop well over five to ten years, and the best vintages age for fifteen years or more.

So which Bordeaux vintage should you buy?

At our tasting the famous years lived up to their reputations, and 2009 and 2005 were among the favourites. The surprise was that the two wines people talked about most, 1998 and 1989, rarely top the vintage charts. So if you enjoy Right Bank Bordeaux, look beyond the famous names and try a well-stored bottle of 1998 or 1989.

If you would like to taste some of these vintages where they were made, the farmhouse sits among the vines and every stay includes a session in our cellar. See the farmhouse and check availability.