Bordeaux needs a break. It was once regarded by the French themselves as the greatest of wine regions, but now youngsters are drinking less (and less wine) – just as they are everywhere. Coupled with a slightly staid image and an association with older generations, Bordeaux is not regarded as a source of good value red wine. Consumers are turning away from it. This affects all producers – from those struggling to make a margin, to those sitting more comfortably in their ivory châteaux – and they need to acknowledge it.
There are many abandoned vineyards – even in appellations as prestigious as Pomerol – and a vine pull is happening everywhere. That 2024 is the smallest vintage since 1991 is as much down to fewer vineyards as it is to mildew and the vagaries of the weather . The average yield was 35 hl/ha, and around 332 million litres in total. Another small crop to follow those of 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Is there an upside to this? Perhaps. When a large production area pulls out vineyards, it generally pulls out the worst vineyards (not least because this, often more fertile land is more likely to be good for some other crop). The effect is, or can be, an improvement in the quality of what remains. Bordeaux’s reputation as the best is well deserved, and was hard won over centuries, and this is not the first time they have seen strife. In many ways the 2024 vintage is a testament to just how good the finest terroirs of Bordeaux actually are, and to the dedication of the people working them.
But it was certainly not easy…
Rain at the Start
In April last year, the wine world descended, as it usually does, on Bordeaux to taste the last vintage – the somewhat curate’s eggy 2023. One thing that also took us by surprise was the dampness in the air, and of the land, and the fact that barely a couple of weeks after an early budding the spraying machines were out in force. In April. The first time that treatments against mildew had been made before the risk of spring frost had passed.
A mild and very wet winter had created the ideal conditions for both mildew and black rot and the air was heavy with the spores of both.
And it continued to rain. Every time rain comes, of course, it washes off the treatment (still here largely “Bordeaux-mixture” of copper sulphate and lime) and the viticulturist needs to spray again at the earliest opportunity. But also, with each passing day, the vine would push and grow more leaving a small, new and very vulnerable area of growth, both shoots and leaves, exposed to the mildew spores. This was the perfect recipe for the disaster to come.
The largest number of treatments throughout the year I heard of was 40, but 30 was common. Some estates abandoned organic principles because using systemic (modern) treatments as well, or instead, involves putting less copper into the soil. Copper soil toxicity can be such a problem that so-called Bordeaux mixture is banned in the UK and other places.
The largest amount of copper that was used seems to have been about 8kg/ha which is well under the limits (measured on a three year usage) and which nature seems to be able to deal with well by washing through. Copper toxicity really becomes an issue at much higher concentrations, and mainly on acidic soils. The limestone based soils which have a pH of more than seven are less affected, according to Emanuelle Fulchi of St Emilion’s Château Bellefont-Belcier.
It is certain that had the 2024 vintage happened 30 or 40 years ago then the amount of copper used would have been many multiples of what it was in 2024, partly because of ignorance of its damaging effects and partly because of more precise and accurate spraying techniques and equipment today. Multiple treatments do risk greater soil compaction with each tractor’s pass through the vineyard, but cover crops and even simple awareness of the risk can help ameliorate this.
In the biodynamic estates, although Bordeaux mixture is both allowed and widely employed, there are additional natural treatments (made as ‘tisane’ sprays) which encourage the vine to create its own defence mechanism to mildew (salicylic acid). These include wicker (osier), horsetail (prêle), buckthorn (bourdaine) and bark of oak or willow (écorce de chêne/saule). It is difficult to ascertain the effectiveness of any one treatment when they are done in combination with others, but Matthieu Bessonnet at Château Pontet-Canet managed to use as little as 5.5kg of copper as a result of employing the biodynamic preparations in tandem. However the crop there was 30% down from normal.
Rain in the middle
Very few places were, at least, touched by frost, although there were a couple of isolated incidents in Lalande de Pomerol and Fronsac. However the rain continued into May and June and in many places affected, and certainly protracted, the flowering. This caused coulure (no fertilisation of the grapes) and millerandage, (poor fruit set – the effects of subsequent poor or uneven fertilisation – small and underripe berries in the same bunch as fully ripe ones). In Pomerol and some parts of St Emilion, coulure was more of an issue, and caused more loss, than mildew.
Somewhat incredibly however, and despite the fact that the ground had been waterlogged all winter, and rainfall was 52% above the ten year average, July and August saw a period of dry conditions that actually provoked some hydric stress in the vineyards – those on free draining gravelly soils anyway. Temperatures were normal but cloud cover meant that ripening was not especially fast making for a long growing season.
Rain at the end
This vintage, although small in quantity because of mildew and coulure, could have been saved by a warm dry autumn, but Bordeaux got neither. Rain at the very end of August and into the first week of September was as a generalisation welcome and needed, but did mean waiting a little for the white harvest. Harvesting as normal has resulted in a little dilution of what is otherwise a very good white vintage. Those who waited a little were rewarded by good depth of flavour, and no cost to acidity, the levels of which remain very high across the board. Weeks three and four of September were dry, but cool, and those who could pick Merlot then did so. Not super-ripe, but well balanced. Then – guess what – more rain. It was actually a little less than predicted, and some concerned by the forecast picked during the rain, which has not been enormously successful. Those who waited until early October were amply rewarded, and definitely the best Cabernets were harvested then. In any case, it was important to harvest quickly and the well-heeled estates employed far more pickers than normal in an effort to harvest everything in as good a condition as possible, and as rapidly, as they could.
Those who could not afford this have paid the price in some dilution of fruit and harsh tannins. One way of harvesting quickly of course is by machine and this was widespread and happened even in Pomerol this year. But a considerable degree of care was needed at the sorting table to ensure only good fruit got through the process.
With now newly very damp vineyards and in relatively cool conditions the next humidity-borne threat arrived, and this was botrytis/grey rot. This finished off some of the later Cabernets and also Petit Verdot, and any remaining Merlot in several places in the Médoc. It did at least promise well for Sauternes, but the October rains also continued, and the best of the sweet wine producers also needed to wait, which many did and with good results.
How to cope
This was the vintage of sorting – cut out mildew at the beginning, coulure and millerandage during the ripening via a rigorous green harvest, and then quality (and eliminating late mildew and botrytis) at the end in both the vineyard and winery on arrival.
The more a producer was prepared – or could afford – to throw away, the better.
In many places, such as at Haut-Brion, there were four sortings (following a cooling of the grapes). Firstly, manual and visual, then densimetric (a water bath where only berries with the ‘right’ amount of sugar are selected because they float), then optical sorting via programmed machine, and finally another manual sorting.
Almost everywhere needed to chaptalise – at least some parcels – to get to around 13% alcohol. Generally this was only to increase the alcohol from 12.5% to 13% – any more than that would show in an imbalance of ripeness of tannins and depth.
This all involved a huge amount of investment and only the top estates could contemplate it. However, the investment has paid off in many places. In a vintage which would have been regarded as universally awful as recently as 20 years ago, through sheer dedication, travail, investment and – in no small amount – bloody-mindedness, there are some mind-bogglingly good wines.
Anywhere where exuberance has been a hallmark in normal vintages, and especially where over-exuberance has been a character of recent warm and sunny vintages, there was the potential for success. From near whole appellations like Pomerol, to the top estates of St Emilion, Pessac and the Médoc, there are success stories.
For lesser, or less well-heeled, estates, the secret was to minimise extraction and make wines in a lighter, fruitier and more airy style, for earlier drinking, where the juicy acidity is a plus rather than a minus, and there are several examples of this which I will certainly be seeking out in the not-too-distant future.
It has been a pleasure to try to find the best here. Unlike a uniformly “good” vintage like 2016 (or even the taste-at-home delights of 2019), there are arguably more interest, value and points of contrast in an up and down vintage. I have been genuinely surprised by quite how good some of these wines are. You can taste the hard work. Just like the best 2011s and 2012s, and the many delights of plenty of 2017s, 2021s and 2023s, there are some great wines in 2024. Whether or not there will be an en primeur market for them is another question.
Photo by Theodore Poncet on Unsplash