Home > Our Bordeaux 2023 webinar > Webinar

 

 

If you would like to skip directly to a specific section in the recording, we have included the timings below:

 

Time		Topic
2.20		Vintage conditions
12:13		Wine styles: Left Bank
22:10		Wine styles: Right Bank
25:45		Market and pricing
34:45		Mark’s Left Bank recommendations: Château Branaire-Ducru and Château Montrose
39:35		Max’s Left Bank recommendations: Château Giscours and Château Ducru-Beaucaillou
42:38		Mark’s Right Bank recommendations: Château La Croix St. Georges and Château La Gaffelière
42:38		Max’s Right Bank recommendations: Château Beau-Séjour Bécot and Château Troplong Mondot
52:12		Sauternes recommendations: Château Suduiraut, Château Coutet and Château Doisy-Védrines
54:15		Second wines: Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux, Les Tourelles de Longueville (Château Pichon Baron) and Le C des Carmes (Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion)
57:20		Château Batailley
58:10		Non-standard and large formats: Château La Gaffelière and Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste

 

 

 

Here, Max and Mark answer some of the questions that they couldn’t get to during the event.

 

Will you be issuing a full list of what you are releasing?

You can keep track of the wines that have already released on the Bordeaux all releases page. Unfortunately, due to the nature of En Primeur, we do not know the prices of individual wines until they are released by the châteaux. Early signs from the first releases indicate that many châteaux will offer their 2023s at a lower release price than their 2022s.

 

On a limited budget, which wines would you recommend for early drinking?

Château Chasse-Spleen, in Moulis-en-Médoc on the Left Bank, has made a lovely wine this year. It has great potential to age but will be ready within five years. On the Right Bank, Château Puyblanquet is a good choice. It is under the same ownership as the famous Château La Gaffelière; it too comes from a fantastic terroir but is offered at a fraction of the price.

 

And which wines would you recommend for laying down?

Château Rauzan-Ségla in Margaux has performed extremely well this year. Part of the Chanel group, there has been real investment here over recent decades; they have produced another amazing wine in 2023, and it will last 30 years or more. We also recommend Château Montrose in St Estèphe; they have made what is quite possibly the wine of the vintage.

 

What is there to attract me to this vintage over and above the same wines from 2019?

The profiles of 2023 and 2019 are different, though there are a number of producers that draw comparisons between the two. This is due to the ripeness of the tannins, though the density of the fruit is richer in 2019. The attraction of the 2023 vintage is its vivacity and purity. One traditional criterion for a fine vintage is a long end to harvest, allowing the grapes to creep towards full maturity. That is certainly the case for the Cabernet Sauvignon. We commented in the webinar that 2023, from the picking of the first grape to the last, is one of the longest on record.

 

How would you compare the quality of Bordeaux 2023 with other regions like Burgundy?

We won’t have a full picture of Burgundy 2023 until our extended visit in October this year. The very early samples we tasted last autumn showed a very ripe vintage, and in good volume. But it seems that the heatwave may have been a little hotter in Burgundy than Bordeaux, as the latter enjoys the moderating effect of the Bay of Biscay. Pinot Noir is more susceptible to heat than Cabernet and, to a lesser extent, Merlot. I expect Burgundy also to be variable; retaining freshness and balance will be key, but because Burgundy works on such a smaller scale, we have no doubt there will be some fascinating and high-quality wines.

 

Given how extremely wet 2024 has been so far, how does that bode for the 2024 growing season?

It’s too early to tell at the moment. The mild and wet weather simply means that the vegetation growth is ahead of “normal” – but the risk of frost seems to have been mostly (though sadly not entirely) avoided. There is, as is now usual, plenty of mildew about, but the Bordelais now have plenty of experience in managing that issue. If it continues to rain and the treatments are repeatedly washed off, however, it will become a problem. The next hurdle is flowering, probably towards the end of May. Settled weather then should ensure a decent-volume crop. But the quality of the vintage, as 2023 proves, is set by the summer, particularly August and the conditions during harvest. 

 

How much more time should be afforded for larger formats like magnums to mature in the bottle? Is there a rule of thumb?

There are no definitive rules for how long larger formats will age compared to standard bottles; the differences can be quite subtle. We recommend that you view the choice of format as a fun way to serve your guests, with the added potential benefit of extended ageing for the wine.