Saturnalia and JF Tobias team up to unveil the En Primeur 2020

Take a sneak peek on the Bordeaux En Primeur week

We are delighted to let you all know that our multifaceted analyses for the 2020 vintage of Bordeaux have been included in the latest report of JF Tobias Wines, a fine wine merchant based in London extremely committed to its customers and their needs.

As every passionate knows, the En Primeur Week is just around the corner – starting on 26th April - and the fine wine world is ready to discover what the wines, still en barrique, can suggest about the new vintage. However, you can already have some foretaste of the imminent tastings – pun intended – and gather a sense of what is coming thanks to the JF Tobias report which is strongly based on our data.

Saturnalia and JF Tobias collaboration for the ultimate En Primeur report

After having collaborated with Vigna Veritas to write our own special report on the magnificent 2016 Barolo vintage, this time we have lent our expertise and exclusive satellite-based point of view to help JF Tobias integrate their data with our own sources. Gathering throughout the whole growing season specific data coming from several satellites, we were able in fact to provide them with valuable and precious information to write a 360-degree report which focuses not only on the vintage as a whole, but also on the single appellations.

Here is how Saturnalia data found application in the report:

- The weather data were used trace the meteorological behaviour of the vintage across all phenological phases: rest, budburst, floraison and veraison. Our data include temperature trends, precipitation measurements, surface soil moisture percentages and growing degree days.

- Our 2D maps complete with our Saturnalia Variation Index – a summary of the vegetative activity within each vineyard – were used to provide an in-depth analysis on the performance of each appellation, including Margaux, Pauillac, Saint-Estèphe, Saint-Julien, Pessac-Léognan, Saint-Émilion and Pomérol.

Pauillac 2020 - 2D map and Saturnalia Variation Index

- Our early scores, computed for 2020 based on the weather and vegetative data, are also included in the report. We call them early scores because we extract them with our AI-driven algorithms immediately after the harvest and so 6 months prior critics’ tastings.

A partnership favouring the final consumer and their need for clarity within the wine world

When we found out about JF Tobias purpose, which is to “democratise wine for all; and improve enjoyment and participation in the world of wine”, we automatically resonated a lot with it. That is an aspiration we also would like to meet soon, as we want to build a dynamic atlas based on facts and accessible to all. On this matter, this is what our Project Manager, Daniele De Vecchi said: “Of course when JF Tobias came forward and asked us about our data, we were more than happy to collaborate with them. We saw a natural liaison with them, as we both would like one day to make the fine wine world a little bit more accessible to every wine lover. Saturnalia is working towards this direction, as we leverage technology to offer an additional, data-comprehensive point of view to the wine industry”.

To download report: get it for free here!