Bordeaux 2023 Critic Thoughts

All the leading critics and journalists have been in Bordeaux over the last few weeks to taste the 2023 vintage during the Primeurs week. We have surmised their thoughts below providing a snapshot of their thoughts and feelings about the vintage and wines.

"Tasting Bordeaux en primeur is largely the art of shutting out extraneous noise and concentrating just on the wines. This year, the noise is especially loud as estate owners, winemakers, consultants, négociants and other professionals debate the merits of 2023 within the context of today’s global market. Many of these views are fueled by agendas, which is certainly understandable. For this taster, it’s only about what is in the glass. When all is said and done, 2023 has a lot to offer. It is not a great vintage across the board, yet plenty of wines merit serious attention...

The best 2023s are intensely aromatic and perfumed. Many wines are marked by bright acids, red-toned fruit and linear, vibrant tannins. On the Left Bank, Cabernet features more heavily in blends than it does in most years because Merlot was more heavily impacted by mildew and dilution. There are plenty of stars on the Right Bank, too. It is a vintage with very clear markers of place...

Négociants are asking châteaux to roll back prices to 2019 levels. Châteaux owners reply that costs have increased markedly. Of course, there are several Bordeaux markets. An estate that sells at €5 a bottle simply can’t lower prices by 30%. Estates positioned higher face another dilemma. If prices are too high, sales might be disappointing. On the other hand, a significant reduction will kill 2021 and possibly other vintages in the market. If previous vintages are marked down, that could lead to tighter lending and, in the most severe cases, possibly a liquidity crunch for some players. Consumers are likely to think they have overpaid for several recent vintages. It’s not an easy situation, to say the least."

Antonio Galloni (Vinous)

"By now, it will be clear that 2023 is something of a hybrid vintage that fits uneasily into the traditional typology of sunny versus “classic,” Continental versus Atlantic, that categorized so readily most 20th century vintages. The best 2023s exhibit the fully ripe tannins and suave, seamless mouthfeels of a sunny vintage such as 2019; yet their vibrant aromas and flavors, evocative of fresh fruits and flowers, are more indicative of a cooler year. Preserving that bright, expressive fruit in all its purity will be critical for successful élevage. But this is far from a frivolous vintage: plenty of tannin and more classical pHs lend the wines serious structure, even if it is generally nicely integrated. Where producers may have been tempted to pick a little earlier than would have been optimal, however, those tannins can take center stage, without the necessary mid-palate amplitude to conceal them. Above all, however, the vintage tended to amplify the voice of each estate and terroir, producing extremely characterful wines.

What of the market? The 2023 en primeur campaign will occur in challenging circumstances. High interest rates and a sluggish economy are a factor for the market in general and for negociants, many of whom are heavily leveraged (against often overvalued stocks), in particular... During my tastings, word in Bordeaux was that the 2023s would be released at significantly lower prices than the region’s last three vintages. If that is so, consumers will have the opportunity to acquire exceptional wines for an attractive price. If that discourse doesn’t play out in reality, difficult times lie ahead—at least for some of the performers in the circus that is the place de Bordeaux. In short, it’s make or break."

William Kelley (Wine Advocate)

"For this primeur, more than any, it is imperative to separate quality from price. Primeur is a combination of both, but they are not inextricable, uncoupled when the Bordeaux elite sought to reinvent itself as an aspirational luxury and let prices float upwards, the fallout of which is unfolding. However, objectivity is predicated upon being immune and uninfluenced by extraneous factors. In other words, whatever exists outside that glass of that unfinished sample in front of you, the red carpets and glitzy tasting rooms, the tsunami of euphemism, the cabaret of primeur.

The watchword tattooed across 2023 is ‘classicism’. What does that mean? ... In 2023, it meant lower alcohol levels in the 13-something range, though a number on the Right Bank tip at 14.5%. Certainly, the 2023s do not possess the opulence and Rubenesque bodies of the previous vintage, although intermittently, they convey those traits... Generally, the 2023s are relatively more tannic than we’ve become accustomed to, more linear and vertical, though endowed with greater fruit concentration than the 2021s. That appeals to my predilection. The best wines embrace these traits while maintaining sufficient fruit and grip, occasionally harking back to the kind of barrel samples encountered in the early days of my career, and I mean that in a good sense.

One virtue that underlies the best wines is the brightness or what the French term “éclat”. It’s a kind of nascent energy that, in my experience, augurs a sample that will evolve into a great wine."

Neal Martin (Vinous)

"So far, I have tasted more than 900 barrel samples of 2023 Bordeaux with my team over the last 10 days in the region, and the best reds show balance and freshness with deep center palates of ripe fruit and a complement of polished tannins. In many ways, I like them better than many of the highly touted 2022s because they are so Bordeaux in their nature with their tensioned mouthfeels and energetic finishes. Many 2022s are very powerful and rich, highlighting the extremely hot and dry grape-growing conditions of the vintage. Some are almost international in their essence… Tasting hundreds of young wines highlights that the vintage was not an across-the-board home run for all appellations or wineries. Smaller wine estates in lesser-known regions seemed to struggle to make really outstanding wines, but they are just a small step down in quality compared with 2022 due to less density of fruit and structure as well as length. Top terroirs and top winemakers delivered terrific-quality wines, but they are different than 2022. I would compare these 2023s to 2019 or 2001 – even 1990 – for their freshness and balance of ripe fruit.

Whether the wine trade or consumers really want to buy 2023 now is a matter of great debate. Prices are definitely coming down for the 2023, despite the high quality of many wines. All the wine producers I spoke to said they would be dropping prices. Some of the very best wines could see decreases of from 20 percent to 35 percent, or even more, compared with 2022. This, however, may not offset some vintners’ hefty price increases for their 2022s last year… I am hoping I still have a smile on my face when I hear the news on prices.”

James Suckling

Finally, do check our Bordeaux 2023 Release Diary where you can view all releases as and when they happen, read our views, and get to grips with market sentiment. We will be sending out regular En Primeur emails throughout the campaign, should you wish to be included in this distribution, please email wine@bcfw.co.uk and we will add you to our mailing list.