Mesdames, Messieurs… Bonjour!
As you read this, we are currently en route to Manchester Airport for the next chapter of our annual Bordeaux pilgrimage and another intensive week of Châteaux visits with the Union des Grands Crus (UGC), to taste the 2024 vintage from barrel.
Believe me, Bordeaux En Primeur is not for the faint-hearted. The days are extremely long as we often taste from 7am until 7pm… and sometimes even later; it’s no exaggeration to say that we can easily sample a staggering 120+ wines per day! Nevertheless, it’s always a great privilege to head back across La Manche for Primeurs and to see our Bordelais friends and colleagues once more. This year we make a welcome return to our traditional chalet at Bordeaux Lac and welcome Private Client Manager, Ronald Buchanan, who joins Andrew and me for his maiden voyage into the wonderful world of Bordeaux En Primeur. Is he up to the challenge? Will he cope in a sea of Claret? Only time will tell…
It is important to remember that each vintage in Bordeaux is truly unique, and the region has been blessed with several great vintages over the last decade (2015 and 2016 closely followed by famous 2018-2019-2020 trilogy as well as, of course, 2022). And so, as we prepare for boarding, we ask ourselves the usual pertinent questions: What can we expect from the 2024 vintage? Did the Left or Right Bank fare better? To which vintage can it be compared?
Although it is too early to comment, initial discussions with the Châteaux as well as Négociants indicate that despite some challenges, the wines are refined and sophisticated with lower alcohol levels and aromatic bouquets with an emphasis on red fruit and floral elements (rather than dark black fruit dominant, powerful, and concentrated wines of recent warmer years).
We do anticipate differences in style and quality levels between appellations and Châteaux; so it is paramount to taste the wines ourselves (on several occasions where possible) to allow us to analyse and assess the vintage properly. It is now up to us to fill our glasses, “get stuck in” and unearth what the 2024 vintage is all about; where the value is, and what we believe are the best buys of the campaign.
With that in mind, we are due to land at Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport at 10h00 local and there is no rest for the wicked, as we make haste to our first appointment in Pessac-Léognan at rising star estate: Les Carmes Haut-Brion. An afternoon in Saint-Émilion and Pomerol follows suit with visits at Trotte Vieille, Corbin, Vieux Chateau Certan (VCC) and Le Pin… an excellent way to begin Primeurs! We will then head back across the Gironde River to Bordeaux Lac and get settled at Bon Coeur HQ for the week. We’ll pull the cork on a bottle of “liquid gold” and raise a glass in honour to our long-term mentor and all-round Bordeaux Guru, Bill Blatch, who sadly passed away recently. Staying with tradition, the BBQ will be fired up and we'll continue his famous meal of “Sauternes et saucissons” to kick off Primeurs as we have done for many years… Merci beaucoup pour tout, et à la tienne, Bill!
Do follow our progress on Instagram and if you haven’t already done so, sign up to our En Primeur reports via our daily free newsletter subscription. If you are reading this on the blog then simply email wine@bcfw.co.uk and request to be signed up to En Primeur campaign updates.
