All images provided by Business France, unless otherwise stated
Another year, another Bordeaux En Primeur!
As reported last year on The Write Taste, Bordeaux En Primeur has a special place in UK wine merchants' hearts. It's a unique system in the wine world and En Primeur Week (22nd to 25th April 2024), allowed key industry players to taste Bordeaux's latest vintage before purchasing. Over 5,000 visitors from around 50 countries are expected to have travelled to the vineyards and châteaux to assess the full potential of the 2023 vintage still ageing in barrel.
A year ago, the 2022 vintage took centre stage in central London at the Bordeaux En Primeur tasting. The wine trade then enjoyed a preview of what was lauded as a historic vintage, following the cooler and rain-hit 2021. This year, it was the turn of the 2023 vintage. So what lies in store and does commercial reality reflect expectations of a good vintage with better yields than the previous two years?
Firstly, it is no secret that the trade is worried. It has been widely reported that, in the midst of tough economic conditions for Bordeaux, as well as for the fine wine market, En Primeur itself faces a critical moment. Financial difficulties are already affecting producers and négociants, brought on by a mix of COVID, energy costs and an ever-changing wine market, so pricing has become perhaps the most talked about and key factor.
With general murmurings that a reduction in release price by as much as 35% is necessary, Alain Raynaud, founder and president of the Grand Cercle des Vins de Bordeaux, believes that Bordeaux's fortunes are far from clearcut. "I think we need to decrease the price", he says. However, Raynaud is quick to point out that the top growths and large producers probably have capacity to reduce their prices significantly, but for the majority of châteaux, including members of the Grand Cercle, this is much more difficult. "Many do not have the ability to decrease so much. They are very close to cost of production and if you ask them to lower their prices by more than 20%, they couldn't survive."
Mark Pardoe MW: "There is a general expectation that prices will fall for 2023. The question is whether they will fall by enough to keep existing and new buyers interested against the backdrop of the various global challenges."
Jeremy Lithgow MW agrees that the pricing structure needs to change, but the level is unclear. "The pricing, everyone agrees, needs to be lower than 2022. The question is how much lower. The pricing of 2023 will probably have to be below that of 2021, which was priced too high and meant that 2022 had to be even more expensive as the vintage was stellar. These are tough times and people don't have as much money in their pockets. There's also a lot of old stock on the market which is priced pretty well - the same as the 2022s. You have to give people an incentive to buy En Primeur."
Ben Grosvenor, Head of Retail & Private Clients at Davy's Wine Merchants, is similarly clear that Bordeaux needs to readdress the pricing structure of its En Primeur wines, especially when compared to older vintages. "It's amazing that pricing has continued to rise against all of the background noise to the contrary. If our customers can buy a case of 2016 (or even as far back as 2005 in some circumstances) for less than the latest release, it simply doesn't make any sense."
So how does the vintage look at the moment?
Wine producers at the London tasting were generally positive, but highlighted disease pressure in spring that made this a difficult vintage for both reds and whites. In contrast, milder conditions in Sauternes contributed to a promising harvest for the sweet wines.
Christel Coupart of Château Le Coteau in Margaux says: "The weather was very rainy during springtime with mildew a problem in April/May. However, fine weather in July, August and September allowed us to harvest good quality grapes at the normal time of mid-September."
For Jean-François Quenin of Château de Pressac in Saint-Émilion Grand Cru, the weather proved a real challenge with changing opinions of how the vintage would turn out and judicious interventions in the vineyard. "The 2023 vintage was difficult for us", he recounts. "The start was very good, the growing period was fantastic and very fast and then in June, the rain and temperature came. We had 35°C with 100% humidity. It was tropical and excellent for mildew! So it was terrible. Some people completely lost their crop because of that.
"We usually use organic products", Quenin continues, "but when it becomes difficult, as it was, we use traditional products which are much more powerful. We had to treat a lot and be very careful. Then from the middle of August, the weather was beautiful - very sunny and warm - and the grapes ripened slowly until harvest. So, at the beginning we were optimistic, then we became very pessimistic and then finally optimistic again!"
For Alain Raynaud, enforced reduced usage of copper sulphate, now 4g/ha, is a good measure for health and ecological reasons. However, this has contributed to some producers losing their grapes and for others, a much lower crop compared to previous years, with picking time never an easy decision. So, a rainy spring with widespread mildew and oidium that affected the white grapes, resulted in lower volumes and a difficult vintage, although the whites benefited from increased acidity levels compared to 2022.
Aurélie Sublett from Vignobles Robin: image by Robin Goldsmith
Aurélie Sublett from Vignobles Robin, representing Château de Laussac from Castillon, Château Rol Valentin in Saint-Émilion and Pomerol's Clos Vieux Taillefer, emphasises how much work was required in the vineyards to combat the disease pressure, particularly with less copper sulphate allowed now. "It was extremely intense work and a lot of extra hours to contain the mildew, but we ended up very happy with the results. The wine kept surprising us and we have something quite classic in terms of style. There was huge pressure and we managed to contain it, but we weren't sure we were going to succeed."
However, adverse weather conditions and disease pressure was not universal in 2023, nor was the need for increased treatments in the vineyard. Andrew McInnes of the Médoc's Château La Cardonne explains further. "2023 was quite interesting because we started flowering earlier. In Bordeaux in general, there was a lot of fear that frost would arrive and it did for one day!"
For McInnes, vineyard location is key. "We were lucky because we're in the highest plateau [34m above sea level] of the Médoc, so we only dropped down to -2°C. Then we had a long, dry, hot summer and we started to worry that maybe the vines were going to close down. Because of our location, we get all the breezes from the ocean and the river. So we were really lucky. We had a couple of days of rain, just before we harvested, which plumped out the grapes. Berries were smaller than we imagined, but with good acidity and perfect maturity. We harvested probably about a week earlier than last year, but spread the harvest out over four or five weeks, waiting for perfect maturity on each parcel.
"We did fewer treatments than in the previous three years. These breezes help us, as they take humidity out of the vineyard and so we've been quite lucky with mildew in the past couple of years. We only had to do four interventions [e.g. spraying], when some did twenty."
So what does this all mean for the quality of the 2023 vintage, how does it compare to the feted 2022 and when will it likely be ready to drink?
Grosvenor shares his impressions directly after visiting Bordeaux. "Given the average temperatures into July were equivalent to the 2022 vintage (one of the hottest on record), the wines are surprisingly dissimilar. At this early stage, the best 2023s offer really classically structured and sophisticated wines. The brilliantly fine-grained tannins belie the structure in these wines, while the acidity is perfectly in check and balances plush fruit from across the spectrum."
Jeremy Lithgow MW gives his immediate impressions on tasting the 2023 vintage for the first time at the London En Primeur event. "It's early days, but I think what's apparent straight away is the vintage is not as homogenous as 2022. Then, the quality was almost uniformly high and the wines of a certain style - so lots of rich, concentrated fruit with surprisingly good acidity and freshness. In 2023, based on what I've tried just now, the quality is less consistent.
"What is consistent is that the wines don't have the richness and intensity of 2022 and they will drink earlier, which is not necessarily a bad thing at all. In some ways, this might make them slightly easier to sell a little bit sooner to restaurants and consumers. However, perhaps they don't have the sheer impact of 2022. I think it's a vintage that is going to be very important to taste. One producer said to me few minutes ago - '2022 you can buy with your eyes shut and without tasting!' I don't think that will be the case in 2023 because quality is variable."
"The best wines I've tried today", continues Lithgow, " have been lovely, aromatic, supple, medium weight and full of really attractive 'come hither' juicy fruit. However, some of the other wines have been maybe a little bit green and lacking in charm. Now that's completely understandable. When you talk to the vignerons, you appreciate what they experienced during the vintage. It was a tough vintage that required much work. So I think it will depend not only on where you were in Bordeaux, but also a bit of luck plus how assiduous you were with the vines and your selection. So it's going to be a vintage where a consumer will need to really look for advice as to what to buy. It's important for the importer or merchant to have tried the wines they are offering and really know what they're recommending because there's plenty of variation in terms of quality."
Benjamin Barreau of Château De La Dauphine in Fronsac believes that while the 2022 vintage was particularly rich, complex and concentrated with power and higher alcohol levels, the 2023 is more approachable, balanced and fruity. Similarly, for Jean-François Quenin, the 2023 wines show "more finesse and elegance" with a relatively high level of acidity giving much freshness when compared to the fuller-bodied 2022s. "I think it's a good vintage", he says, "but there will probably be many differences between one estate and another."
For Grosvenor, some quality differences between left and right bank are already identifiable. "I think it's relatively easy to taste that the later ripening Cabernets are the winners in 2023. Merlot on cooler soils of clay and limestone have done well, but unfortunately where Merlot has ripened too soon and missed out on the later spells of heat, there is some dilution to the wines. However, some properties were able to increase Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon in the blends to counter this and have created well-balanced wines that will put smiles on faces! Cabernets, particularly on the left bank, as well as Merlots on the best sites in Saint-Émillion, show oodles of class, impressive structure and finesse."
Pierre Delage, representing Château Cambon La Pelouse, Château Belle-Vue and Château Lanessan from Haut-Médoc gives his views on the new vintage. "For me, 2023 is a classic Bordeaux vintage - fresh and well balanced. It's very different from 2022, which was amazing - one of the best vintages in Bordeaux for maybe the last 20 years or more."
Grosvenor similarly notes a return to a classic style of Bordeaux. "The vintage doesn't have the concentration and power of 2022, but makes up for it with a return to a classic Bordeaux identity. The tannins are more immediately appealing, while the charmingly pure fruit is hard to resist. Although more similar in style to 2021, it's a marked step up and a truly joyful vintage."
Mark Pardoe MW notes that the 2023 reds show "some similarity to 2021 in their freshness and energy, but with more density and weight.", adding that they are "lighter than 2022, but with more precise fruit."
Pardoe also gives his thoughts on the white and sweet wines: "From a limited sample, the dry whites look like they could be rather good, as they should have been harvested before the August heatwave. They're plump and ripe, but with good density and freshness. Also, from a small sample at this stage, the sweet wines are very good. Botrytis was late to come and the best was in the middle tri [pass through the vineyard to pick the best botrytized grapes]. Quality is good, akin to 2021, but yield is a little lower than hoped after a good flowering. Château Suduiraut managed 12 hl/ha, which isn't too bad."
Grosvenor is similarly positive, despite limited opportunities to sample these wines. "I didn't taste many sweet wines. Those I did come across showed depth and concentration, while the whites I tried show a very promising and exciting vintage. Perhaps some are a little too rich, but the acidity provides great balance. It's only a shame that more consumers aren't quite ready to embrace the whites of the region!"
Andrew McInnes of Château La Cardonne
Differences between estates on when to drink the 2023s are borne out by opinions garnered at the London En Primeur tasting. For example, McInnes believes that 2022 will be an earlier drinking vintage. "I think with 2023, there's very opulent fruit up front, which is quite velvety. Then boom, we're hit with that tannin mass at the end, which says longevity for us. This will be drinking well in 10 or 15 years' time. So, we'll be drinking the 2022 in 2028 and I think the 2023 will be reaching its apogee in 2032."
However, Christel Coupart and others hold a different view. "Maybe you can drink this vintage earlier, as it's really fruity. 2022 had more tannins, so you can wait for it a little longer. Maybe you can drink the 2023 in five years and for the 2022, you need to wait ten years, but it does depends on the taste of the consumer."
Aurélie Sublett agrees and, focussing on the right bank, believes that the 2023 vintage will be ready to drink sooner than the 2022. "The two vintages are very different styles. 2023 has smooth tannins, good length and freshness. 2022 is more full-bodied, powerful and will have longer ageing potential."
Pierre Rebaud of Château Siaurac in Lalande de Pomerol, also thinks that the 2023s will be ready to drink sooner than the 2022s which will keep developing. "For me, 2023 is a vintage of a winegrower, not a winemaker. The most important work was in the vineyard. It's a good vintage - soft and medium-bodied, ready to drink sooner. There was more concentration in 2022, while 2023 is lighter in style. The taste this morning is already different from last week, so that's good for me."
Pierre Rebaud from Château Siaurac: image by Robin Goldsmith
Lithgow agrees with many of the producers who see the 2023s as shorter-lived than the 2022s. "In 2022, there were lots of tannins - ripe, but very present tannins with density. Here, the tannins are forgiving and supple, which suggests that the wines are going to be much earlier drinking and it's not going to be a long-lived vintage." However, he also notes that the ageing potential of the 2023 vintage may depend more on the individual producer, rather than a Bordeaux-wide pattern. Pardoe adds that the wines are "certainly capable of ageing, but the best ones are so appealing that they will also drink well in their youth."
"Unusually", says Grosvenor, "this vintage will tick all boxes for drinkers and collectors alike. The freshness, silky tannins and charming fruit will make it nearly impossible to resist early on. Many of the more serious wines on the left bank and the best of Saint-Émillion have the concentration and structure to age. I think this will be a fascinating vintage to watch over the next two decades."
Ultimately, is it going to be a successful vintage or not? "There's always an opportunity for Bordeaux", affirms Lithgow, "but as ever, it's all about getting the price right, which is something they did in 2019, so let's see if they can do it again!"
Lithgow suspects that differences in quality are going to be more noticeable from producer to producer, rather than a broad comparison between each appellation. However, specific vineyard location would appear to be key to understanding these differences, as several producers noted at the London En Primeur tasting, particularly those where breezes on higher ground protected against humidity and disease.
Pardoe sees much to be positive about the new vintage. "There is a transparency and elegance to the wines and they will age nicely, although they will be approachable earlier than the 2022s. There were challenges through the growing season, especially mildew and, whilst very warm, the summer was also really cloudy. That encouraged some producers to de-leaf, who were then caught out by the heatwave of late August and early September. Those who made the right calls at the right times have produced interesting and appealing wines. Those who did not might have very little wine [due to mildew] or some green tannins. The best wines are good, but each château will have its own story to tell."
Author: Robin Goldsmith of The Write Taste
