Last month, as Bordeaux headed into spring, I was enjoying the velvety-textured wines from the 2023 vintage. Many were much better than I expected, especially after hearing so many stories about growing season difficulties from winemakers. Many people seemed relieved to have made it through without a complete disaster.
Overall, the wines are too heterogeneous to call the 2023 a great vintage, although some of them are just pure magic.
“You can’t put the 2023s in any category,” says Omri Ram at Pomerol’s Château Lafleur, one of my top wines. “It’s like every castle goes through a different classical style.”
The annual Bordeaux en primeur ceremony takes place from April 22 to 26, and I arrived early to have time to taste more than 450 barrel samples of the 2023 vintage. All in all, the event attracted about 100 journalists and thousands of traders from 70 countries.
While there are outstanding wines worth buying in every appellation, from famous names to good values, many chateaus miss the mark. Their wines have bitter tannins and lack concentration. Some have a green, unripe flavor.
Happily, my first stop,—at 9 a.m. on April 15 at the first development Château Lafite Rothschild—set the bar for the best.
Style of wine
My top reds and whites are as good (and sometimes better) than the 2022s, but in a style that Bordeaux lovers like to call “vintage.” Although they lack the juiciness and appeal of the best 2022s, they combine the ripe tannins and smooth texture of a warm vintage with vibrant, fruity, floral aromas and purity. and the freshness of a cool wine — with a lower alcohol content.
“It’s a classic style where you find terroir in your glass, meaning you can clearly detect the individual nuances of each wine,” says Mathieu Cuvelier of Clos Fourtet in Saint-Émilion. .
The growing season hasn’t been easy amid heavy rainfall and warm day and night temperatures—a stark contrast to 2022, which was beset by drought and severe heat. Winemakers have struggled to cope with sudden changes in weather and often misleading forecasts. Success depends on luck, microclimate, soil type, grape variety and human decision-making ability. Experience and resources (meaning expertise and money) made the fundamental difference. Disaster awaits those who make a bad call.
Rain and warm, humid weather in June provided the lingering backdrop for a toxic mold outbreak that some say is the worst in 25 years. This fungus can quickly sweep through vineyards to devastate crops.
“We had to monitor the vineyard for hours and spray immediately,” says Veronique Sanders of Château Haut-Bailly. Organic farmers must spray copper sulfate regularly and preferentially, although organically grown Château Fonplégade has reported good results with oak bark solutions. Some vineyards were so wet that tractors could not move. Not all vignerons have enough workers on demand to respond so quickly. Merlot is more susceptible to mold than cabernet sauvignon or cabernet franc, which is why many 2023 wines have a higher proportion of the latter two.
Christian Moueix, owner of several leading Pomerol production facilities, said they sprayed 18 to 20 times, driving up the cost of production per bottle. Every time it rains, the leaves are washed and need to be sprayed again with copper or fungicide.
Jean-Philippe Delmas of Château Haut-Brion said this was the second hottest year since the start of the 21st century. He said: “The cloudy weather in July protected the grapes from the sun and preserved their freshness. . “Then the intense heat waves in mid, late August and early September were like a concentrator.”
That heat transformed some wines into something deeper. It also burned some grapes, making sorting at harvest necessary. The long time it takes to pick the grapes means they can be harvested at perfect ripeness.
Winemakers emphasize that adapting quickly 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 choose carefully.
Here’s a quick reminder of how buying wine futures works. You tie up your cash now (sometimes as little as 50%), while the wine is still aging in barrels, and receive bottled wine in the fall of 2026. Don’t assume you can sell bottled wine for a profit profit, as was the case. Some 2019 futures contracts are now priced lower than futures contracts four years ago. One reason to buy now is to choose your favorite wine and choose the format you like (magnums, half bottles, etc.).
Prices are a big topic at private lunches and soirées, with negotiators and merchants insisting top chateaus will have to slash prices by 30% from last year’s levels to generate excitement.
“The market situation is very serious,” said Emmanuel Cruse, head of the Commanderie de Bontemps, a Left Bank Château trade association and co-owner of Château d’Issan. “We all know the wine merchants are well stocked.” Market pressures include high interest rates, inflation, two ongoing wars and weak markets in China.
“The quality of the wine exceeded my expectations, but we will only buy what we can sell.” He said he will take on fewer names than before.
Shaun Bishop, owner of JJ Buckley based in California’s Bay Area, said he has tasted intriguing wines and will probably offer 100 varieties; 10 years ago, he would have offered 200. “First growths will sell, as will collectible fine wines with followings like Pontet-Canet and Les Carmes Haut -Brion.”
It seems that several castles, including Lafite, have heard the announcement about that price. Château Pontet-Canet, super successful in 2023, launched at a price 27% lower than last year; Brilliant Leoville Las Cases were 40% off, Lafite Rothschild 31% and Mouton Rothschild 37.2%.
Important Note: Only buy from a reputable merchant with a long track record of delivering bottled wine. US examples: 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?
You can buy a few dozen wines if the price is right (including white wine, which I’ll discuss in a later column). As usual, all the first growths were among the best of the vintage and I was pleasantly surprised by Right Bank stars such as Petrus, Le Pin, Ausone and Figeac. In addition to those and the 14 favorites and five values below, I would single out Léoville Las Cases, Léoville Barton, Haut-Bailly, Rauzan-Ségla, Ducru Beaucaillou, Cos d’Estournel, Giscours, L’Evangile, Les Perrières, Canon, d’Issan, Domaine de Chevalier, Vieux Château Certan, Troplong Mondot and Rocheyron. An expanded list of my top 100 wines, with notes, will be available on my website (elinmccoy.com) in June.
Here are my top 14 wines (prices included where applicable):
Château Beausejour Duffau Lagarosse
Third vintage under co-owner and winemaker Josephine Duffau Lagarosse is the best, with a luxurious, velvety texture and seamless earthy, mineral, salty and fruity flavors.
Bélair-Monange Castle
The first vintage to be produced in the castle’s stunning new cellars is wonderfully juicy, with mineral and truffle notes and rich depth.
Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion
This Pessac-Léognan property has become one of Bordeaux’s new stars. The 2023 has more cabernet sauvignon and franc than usual, which gives it aromas of violet and peony as well as deep purple and mineral flavors.
Chateau Cheval Blanc
Very rich, structured, nuanced and polished, and more mineral and floral than in 2022. The fragrance reminds me of violets, peonies, irises and more .
La Conseillante Castle
A wonderful wine in this vintage: long and precise, rich and layered, with intense pure fruit aromas and heady aromas of lilacs, rose petals and a hint of medicine leaves.
Château L’ EClinet sparkles
A beautiful wine with intense aromas of cherries, raspberries, cocoa and tobacco. It’s very, very long and powerful.
Château Haut-Brion
Energy, tension and a gorgeous, velvety feel mark this consistently complex wine, opening up layers of olive, licorice and cedar flavors.
Chateau Lafite Rothschild ($520)
A rich wine with quiet power, depth, elegance and energizing freshness, Lafite combines stylish flavors of cassis and graphite with a signature touch of salinity for an intense finish. its elongation. According to Liv-ex, this is the best value Lafite on the market.
Chateau Lafleur
A rich wine that looks even better than the excellent 2022. It shows impressive notes of tea, violet and tobacco, along with deep layers of vibrant, dark fruit and a hint of spice . One of my favorite vintages, it will be pricey but often appreciates in value quickly.
Château Margaux
Refined, captivating, elegant and lively, this first evolution is all about refined flavor and energy. It’s very classic and smooth.
Montrose Castle
With bold, bold colors; pure raspberry nose; fine, smooth tannins; and a concentrated dark fruit character, which is one of the best on the Left Bank.
Mouton Rothschild Castle ($442)
With a dense texture reminiscent of dark chocolate mousse, this rich 93% cabernet has everything: layers of smoky black fruit, pomegranate notes, tension and a long finish. It is cheaper than any other classic on the market.
Pichon Lalande Castle
Always one of the top wines among recent vintages, this second growth wine shows a luxuriously velvety texture, precise floral and mulberry aromas as well as layers of fresh ripe fruit. bright.
Château Pontet-Canet ($91)
The vibrant scent of peony and the distinctive deep, delicious flavors of blueberries, mint and fennel really stand out. This wine shows how great cabernet sauvignon can be.
Five valuable wines
Château Bellefont-Belcier
With each recent vintage, this Saint-Émilion estate has delivered greater efficiency. This classic wine has succulent red berry flavors, density and structure and a long, engaging finish.
Chateau Corbin
With cool, seductive dark fruit, a velvety texture and everything balanced, Saint- Émilion grand cru classé exudes harmony and elegance.
Château Fonplegade
This wine from the American biodynamic Saint-Émilion estate is a standout. Aromas of crushed rose petals, plum fruit and spice notes.
Château Siran
This wine from the Margaux region is always a good buy. Lively and succulent, it has a core of bright and mineral mulberry fruit, as well as smooth yet powerful tannins.
Château Tronquoy
The billionaire Bouygues brothers own this property, and the quality is increasingly high. This purple wine has mint, floral and tobacco aromas as well as flavors of red cherries.
