Bordeaux Primeurs 2023 review by French Wine Expert Aymeric de Clouet (English Version)

The new buzzword in the Bordeaux vineyards for 2024 is "infusion"! The repentance from the Parker years continues to resonate, and today, there is a reluctance to perform even simple pump-overs or necessary punch-downs to avoid any excessive extraction. It should be remembered, however, that Bordeaux wine can handle a bit of tannin quite well. Yet, the obsession with emulating Burgundy and its more approachable wines leads oenologists to harvest with tweezers, then proceed with macerations without any harshness, before pressing with the grape's consent... Will fermentations be done with indigenous yeasts, or is the word itself no longer usable?

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As with any trend, there are things to retain, and it is pleasant to taste the young wines without destroying one's gums. The 2023 wines are overall of great finesse (with one notable exception), well-balanced, and promise intense gustatory pleasure not too far off. The increasingly parcel-based and refined vinifications lead to elegant choices and a form of upward leveling that one cannot remain insensitive to. The choice of grape varieties, with a clear decline in Merlot in favor of Cabernet (notably Franc), Petit Verdot, and even Carmenère, is steering Bordeaux towards a new complexity reminiscent of old wines, which I can only approve of. The reduction in the percentage of new oak continues, although insufficient to my taste, but the direction is the right one.

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In short, I could have had only positive things to say about this vintage, which, while not great, delights us qualitatively. Unfortunately, what could have been a great success in a better market context will probably turn out to be another commercial failure, despite the efforts of the leading estates that release their prices with astonishing speed. Even the -40% of Las Cases will not suffice; it was a very good initiative, but the question was not the percentage decrease compared to last year, the question was the price compared to the 2000s, when the wine, already expensive, still allowed for a not unreasonable hope of a price advantage for the en primeurs purchase.

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The opinions of tasters are also very contrasted on the regions that succeeded in the vintage, and I am always amazed to see novice tasters express themselves on a subject they do not know. It is true that certainties often replace experience, and youth tends to speak until it has something to say! From the height of my thirty-one years of primeur tastings, with my tastes and my flaws, here is my 2023 ranking.

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### Right Bank, Left Bank

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It is not easy to establish a hierarchy this year, especially for me who spent more time in the Médoc than in the Libournais. Nevertheless, the impression that remains is that of greater successes on the right bank, among the Grands, with very beautiful cuvées on the left bank, without any wine reaching the sublime.

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In my four-star ranking (as my readers know, I rate out of five), there are only wines from the right bank, to which we can add Chateau Margaux, which, like the appellation, performs remarkably, and Latour. Ausone, Angélus, Cheval-Blanc, Figeac, La Conseillante, a chic quintet for prices that will probably still be shocking. No five-star wine, therefore, which is already a first clue.

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In 2022, the strength of the vintage was that the greats were very great, but the small ones were very good, some making the best wine in their history. It is a bit more difficult in 2023, but we still find some gems that I hasten to warmly recommend, notably on the right in C?tes de Castillon with Chateau Montlandrie, which belongs to the Durantou galaxy (L’église-Clinet), or on the left with wines as simple as Fourcas-Dupré (release price €10.90, in other words, the very good deal of the year) or Moulin-Riche (which is a bit more expensive but worth it).

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### Whites or Reds?

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Some white wines are successful this year, notably the new cuvées of Suduiraut in dry (Pichon-Baron) with a 100% Sémillon cuvée, finally! For the Graves, we can talk about serious, well-done work, but I surprisingly preferred 2022.

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Talbot came close to making a great white from the Médoc, with a fine and elegant wine with Burgundian balances, unfortunately, a perverse desire to punish this too brilliant juice made them give it the stick, a practice in free fall today that consists of fattening wines like ducks from the southwest. It remains a nice wine, but it could have been great!

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In the same vein, the Pavillon Blanc from Chateau Margaux, in line with recent years, is a success. But at what price?

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I have more difficulty talking about the whites from Lynch-Bages and Cos-d’Estournel, which are the quintessence of everything I hate: pineapple juice with added vanilla. They call it "exotic fruits," but I will never know what to serve them with.

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On the other hand, we must highlight the beautiful success of Pape-Clément Blanc, not usually accustomed to congratulations in these columns. Behind it, the classic but always excellent Domaine de Chevalier does the job, as well as Carbonnieux, Olivier, Larrivet-Haut-Brion, La Tour Martillac... Special mention as always to Domaine de la Solitude, made by the Bernard family, which offers a wonderful white at a very affordable price.

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This year, and for lack of time, no comment on the Sauternes, which I am told are good, but it is no longer my age!

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### Which Region to Buy?

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#### Margaux

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The appellation, heterogeneous by nature, presents itself with a magnificent set of successes. It undoubtedly owes this to its remarkable president! In short, everything is good or almost, no disappointment in the end since the only wine a notch below is Rauzan-Gassies, unsurprisingly. Apart from Margaux and Palmer, excellent but reserved for great fortunes, one can particularly look at Malescot-Saint-Exupéry for the cellar and Siran for the wine to drink in abundance!

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#### Saint-Julien

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A beautiful homogeneity for this compact appellation. What downside? All the wines are good but without reaching the grandiose, it is difficult to highlight a great success. As we have to choose, this year I would say Gruaud-Larose and Léoville-Poyferré, with a special mention for Moulin Riche and its excellent quality-price ratio.

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#### Graves de Pessac-Léognan

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The most impressive wine was undoubtedly Les Carmes-Haut-Brion, even if its price has become more sustained, and among the most interesting wines, a regular in these pages, Chateau Olivier, which under the leadership of its director Laurent Lebrun offers a consistency in the excellence of its red production at still affordable prices (One more effort on the Sémillon and the whites will be too). The great classics of the appellation succeed quite well: Smith-Haut-Lafitte, Chevalier, Haut-Bailly, Larrivet-Haut-Brion, Fieuzal, but the big surprise comes from Latour-Martillac whose prices should be reasonable.

(Haut-Brion not tasted)

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#### Saint-émilion

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If the greats are successful, and in particular Angélus which even succeeded with its Carillon, and Cheval-Blanc which for once releases a fair "Petit-Cheval," Figeac with its unique balance, Ausone with its customary but always appreciated splendor (a downside on La Chapelle, for once), among the affordable wines we will talk about Jean-Faure and Quinault-L’Enclos, but overall there is only pleasure to be had in this appellation.

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#### Pomerol

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Unfortunately little tasted due to lack of time, we will say with Vieux Chateau Certan that it is a very good classic vintage, which turned sublime at La Conseillante. I leave it to sufficiently wealthy amateurs to buy it, but it is truly a great emotion they will have when opening the bottle in a few years. And that, it has no price!

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#### Pauillac

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Quite heterogeneous with a very successful Latour and its other cuvées (but without being a great Latour), we find very good Mouton and Lafite-Rothschild, it is the least they can do, a very good Pichon-Baron, a very correct Grand Puy-Ducasse, and a very successful Lynch-Moussas: if someone had told me one day I would prefer Moussas to Bages, I would not have believed it!

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One can also buy Clerc-Milon and d’Armailhac, Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pontet-Canet...

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#### Haut-Médoc, Listrac, Moulis

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This is where we will find the deal of the year with Fourcas-Dupré, but we can also look at Clarke, Fourcas-Hosten, and the modest Lamarque, very decent. Camensac makes a very interesting classified growth.

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#### Saint-Estèphe

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Apart from Montrose which I could not taste, Calon-Ségur is the successful chateau with three wines: the "Grand vin," the "Marquis," and Chateau Capbern which is not only successful but generally reasonable. For the rest... it is a bit the most catastrophic region of the vintage, with vegetal, unbalanced wines, and in particular Phélan-Ségur which I loved so much in the Gardinier days. Let's not talk about Ormes de Pez, we would get angry! Pez, on the other hand, offers a lovely, promising cuvée.

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### Conclusion

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In conclusion, buy (a little) of 2023 aiming also for the best quality-price ratios, and La Conseillante, if you can! The wines can be drunk before twenty years, and will satisfy amateurs. It will especially be a very good restaurant wine, ready to drink quite quickly, without risk of exhaustion.

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