Description

I am pleased to present my Bordeaux 2024 En Primeur report.

With release prices (heavily reduced in the main) being announced daily, it will be possible to find some good value 2024 wines. It is the kind of vintage in which only recent significant advances in technology and savoir-faire have allowed the producers to craft wines worthy of their terroir. Rigorous sorting, and careful management in the winery, were essential. There are some simply remarkable examples of Châteaux who have managed precisely that.

However, just as last year, there will be a need to tread carefully among the less expensive wines. Delicacy and juiciness of fruit with limited extraction of tannins were the ways to cope with the rain-borne deficit of ripeness. The greatest terroirs however, especially those where recent warm vintages have led to very exuberant styles, have managed to achieve some lovely classically styled wines with the twin properties of likely being approachable early, but also to keep.

The report features tasting notes and scores for over 580 of the top wines of Bordeaux in 2024, as well as commentary and notes on the vintage, dozens of photographs, and a recap of the century of vintages so far. I hope you enjoy it.

Roderick Smith MW