Bordeaux en primeur report: Which 2023 vintage wines should you buy?

    • The growing season in 2023 wasn’t easy amid a deadly combo of excessive rainfall and warm day and night temperatures.
    • The growing season in 2023 wasn’t easy amid a deadly combo of excessive rainfall and warm day and night temperatures. PHOTO: AFP
    Published Thu, May 9, 2024 · 07:53 PM

    LAST month, when Bordeaux was just verging on springtime, I was revelling in silky textured wines from the 2023 vintage. Many were far better than I expected, especially after hearing so many tales of growing-season hardship from winemakers. Many seemed relieved just to have made it through the vintage without experiencing total disaster.

    Overall, the wines are far too heterogenous to call 2023 a great vintage, though some are pure magic.

    “You can’t put the 2023s into any category,” says Omri Ram at Pomerol’s Chateau Lafleur, one of my top wines. “It’s like every chateau experienced a different vintage.”

    The annual rite of Bordeaux en primeur took place from Apr 22 to 26, and I arrived early so I would have time to taste more than 450 barrel samples of the 2023 vintage. All told, the event drew about 100 journalists and thousands of merchants from 70 countries.

    While there were outstanding wines worth buying in every appellation, from famous names to good values, many chateaux missed the mark. Their wines show bitter tannins and lack of concentration. Some feature green, unripe flavours.

    Happily, my first stop, at 9 am on Apr 15 at first-growth Chateau Lafite Rothschild, set a standard for the best. 

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    The style of the wine

    My top reds and whites are as good as (and sometimes better) than the 2022s, but in a style that Bordeaux lovers like to call “classical”. While they lack the lusciousness and oomph of the best 2022s, they combine the ripe tannins and smooth texture of a warm vintage with the floral aromas, vibrant fruit, purity and freshness of a cool one – with lower alcohol levels, too.

    “It’s a vintage where you find the terroir in your glass,” said Mathieu Cuvelier of Clos Fourtet in Saint-Emilion, meaning you can clearly detect the personality nuances of each estate’s wines.

    The growing season wasn’t easy amid a deadly combo of excessive rainfall and warm day and night temperatures – quite different from that of 2022, which was beset by serious drought and heat. Winemakers struggled to deal with abrupt shifts in weather, with forecasts often misleading. Success came down to luck, microclimate, soil type, grape variety and human decision-making. Experience and resources (meaning expertise and money) made the ultimate difference. Disaster lurked for those who made a bad call.

    Rain and warm, humid weather in June set a prolonged scene for virulent outbreaks of mildew that some said was the worst in 25 years. This fungus can quickly sweep through a vineyard to decimate a crop.

    “We had to monitor the vineyard by the hour and spray immediately,” says Veronique Sanders of Château Haut-Bailly – even on Sundays. Organic farmers had to regularly and preemptively spray with copper sulfate, though biodynamic Chateau Fonplegade reports good results with an oak bark solution. Some vineyards were so wet that tractors couldn’t be rolled out. Not all vignerons had enough workers on call to respond so quickly. Merlot is more susceptible to mildew than cabernet sauvignon or cabernet franc, which is why many 2023 wines have a higher proportion of the latter two.

    Christian Moueix, owner of many top Pomerol estates, said they had sprayed from 18 to 20 times, raising the production cost per bottle. Every time it rains, the leaves are rinsed and need to be resprayed with copper or a fungicide.

    This was the second-hottest year since the beginning of the 21st century, explains Jean-Philippe Delmas of first-growth Chateau Haut-Brion. “The cloudy weather in July protected the grapes from the sun and kept freshness,” he says. “Then, intense periods of heat in mid and late August and early September were like a machine for concentration.” 

    That heat transformed some wines into something more profound. It also burned some grapes, making it essential to sort at harvest. A long window for picking the grapes meant they could be harvested at perfect maturity. 

    Winemakers emphasise that adapting rapidly and rethinking everything they do has become the new normal.

    Should you buy now?

    The short answer is yes – if the price is right. But pick carefully.

    Here’s a quick reminder of how buying wine futures works. You tie up your cash now (sometimes with only 50 per cent down), while the wines are still ageing in barrel, and receive the bottled wines in fall 2026. Don’t assume you can flip the bottled wines for a profit, as was once the case. Some 2019s now cost less than they did as futures four years ago. One reason to buy now is to lock in your favourite wines and pick the format you prefer (magnums, half-bottles and so forth). 

    Price was the big topic at private lunches and gala dinners, with merchants insisting the top chateaux would have to reduce prices by 30 per cent from last year’s levels to generate excitement.

    “The market situation is serious,” says Emmanuel Cruse, head of Commanderie de Bontemps, a Left Bank Bordeaux Chateau trade association, and co-owner of Chateau d’Issan. “We all know the wine merchants already have plenty of stock.” Market pressures include high interest rates, inflation, two ongoing wars and a weak market in China.

    Jeff Zacharia of Zachys, a Port Chester, New York, retailer that has been offering Bordeaux futures to customers since the 1970s says: “The quality of the wines exceeded my expectations, but we will only buy what we can sell.” He says he’ll take on fewer names than in the past.

    Shaun Bishop, owner of California Bay Area-based JJ Buckley, says he has tasted compelling wines and will probably offer 100; 10 years ago, he would have offered 200. “The first growths will sell, as well as collectible great wines with a following like Pontet-Canet and Les Carmes Haut-Brion.”

    It looks as if some chateaux, including Lafite, have heard that price message. Chateau Pontet-Canet, a super success in 2023, was released at a price 27 per cent lower than last year’s; the brilliant Leoville Las Cases was priced down 40 per cent, Lafite Rothschild 31 per cent and Mouton Rothschild 37.2 per cent.

    A key caution: Buy only from a reputable merchant with a long track record for delivering finished wines in bottle. In the US, for example: Zachys, JJ Buckley, Millesima USA and K&L Wine Merchants. In the UK: Farr Vintners, Bordeaux Index, Fine + Rare, and Berry Bros & Rudd.

    What to buy

    Several dozen wines are worth buying if the price is right (including whites, which I’ll discuss in a future column). As usual, all the first growths are among the best wines of the vintage, and I was wowed by Right Bank stars such as Petrus, Le Pin, Ausone and Figeac. In addition to those and my 14 favorites and five values below, I’d single out Leoville Las Cases, Leoville Barton, Haut-Bailly, Rauzan-Segla, Ducru Beaucaillou, Cos d’Estournel, Giscours, L’Evangile, Les Perrieres, Canon, d’Issan, Domaine de Chevalier, Vieux Chateau Certan, Troplong Mondot and Rocheyron.

    Here are my 14 top wines (price included when available):

    Chateau Beausejour Duffau Lagarosse: The third vintage under co-owner and winemaker Josephine Duffau Lagarosse is the best yet, featuring an opulent, silky texture and seamless earth, mineral, salt and fruit flavours.

    Chateau Belair-Monange: The first vintage made in the chateau’s gorgeous new cellar has a wonderful juiciness, along with mineral and truffle notes and a rich depth.

    Chateau Les Carmes Haut-Brion: This Pessac-Leognan property has become one of Bordeaux’s new, buzzy stars. The 2023 has more cabernet sauvignon and franc than usual, which gives it aromas of violets and peonies and a dark violet and mineral taste.

    Chateau Cheval Blanc: Very rich, structured, nuanced and polished, and more mineral and floral than the 2022. The perfumy aromas remind me of violets, peonies, iris and more.

    Chateau La Conseillante: A great wine in this vintage – long and precise, fleshy and layered, with exuberant pure fruit and expansive aromas of lilacs, rose petals and a bit of tobacco.

    Chateau L’ Eglise Clinet: A stunning wine with an intense aroma of cherries, raspberries, cocoa and tobacco. It’s very, very long and powerful.

    Chateau Haut-Brion: Energy, tension and a gorgeous, velvety sensuality mark this always-complex wine that unfurls layers of olive, liquorice and cedary flavours.

    Chateau Lafite Rothschild (US$520) A rich wine with quiet, deep power, elegance, and energetic freshness, Lafite brims with stylish flavours of cassis and graphite and a distinctly salty note to its extremely long finish. It’s the best-value Lafite on the market, according to Liv-ex. 

    Chateau Lafleur: A profound wine that seems even better than the fantastic 2022. It shows expressive tea, violet and tobacco aromas, along with deep layers of vibrant, dark fruit and a hint of spice. One of my favorite wines of the vintage, it will be expensive but usually rises in value quickly.

    Chateau Margaux: Sophisticated, charming, elegant and vivid, this first growth is all subtle flavours and energy. It’s very classical and silky.

    Chateau Montrose: With a dark, intense colour; pure blackberry-fruit nose; fine, smooth tannins; and a concentrated dark-fruit character, this is one of the best on the Left Bank.

    Chateau Mouton Rothschild (US$442): With a dense texture that suggests dark chocolate mousse, this fleshy 93 per cent cabernet has just about everything: layers of smoky black fruit, notes of pomegranate, tension and a long finish. It’s cheaper than any other vintage on the market.

    Chateau Pichon Lalande: Consistently one of the top wines among recent vintages, this second growth shows off a luxurious silky texture, precise floral and mulberry aromas, and layers of bright, ripe fruit.

    Chateau Pontet-Canet (US$91): The vivid aroma of peonies and exceptionally pure, deep, savoury flavours of blueberry fruit, mint and fennel really stand out. This wine shows how brilliant cabernet sauvignon can be.

    Five Value Wines

    Chateau Bellefont-Belcier: With each recent vintage, this Saint-Emilion estate out-delivers. This vintage features juicy red-berry flavours, density and structure and a long, mouthwatering finish.

    Chateau Corbin: With cool, seductive dark fruit, a silky texture and everything in balance, this Saint- Emilion grand cru classe exudes harmony and elegance.

    Chateau Fonplegade The wine from this biodynamic American-owned Saint-Emilion estate is a standout. Crushed rose petal aromas, plummy fruit and notes of spice.

    Chateau Siran: The wine from this Margaux estate is a consistently good buy. Lively and succulent, it has a core of bright mulberry fruit and minerals, as well as smooth but powerful tannins.

    Chateau Tronquoy: The billionaire Bouygues brothers own this property, whose quality continues to go higher and higher. This violet-coloured wine boasts mint, floral and tobacco aromas and flavour notes of red cherries. BLOOMBERG

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