I spent two weeks in Bordeaux in April 2024, where I had the opportunity to taste over 300 barrels of samples from the 2023 vintage. I re-tasted many of these barrel samples two or three times at different locations. I also had the chance to re-taste many wines from vintages 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
You may be curious about how the 2023 red vintage turned out. It is splendid to excellent. The wines are pure, ripe, elegant, tender, and sophisticated, with finesse and a velvety texture. The expressive fruit conceals the tannins well, and the wines have an excellent acidity that leaves you wanting more.
The key to making successful wine in 2023 for a winemaker was careful maceration/extraction and using less oak than in the 2022 vintage to get the perfect expression of fruit and gentle tannin. The Right Bank, and particularly Saint Emilion and Pomerol, produced some of the best wines in 2023. While there is more consistency among wines on the Right Bank, it does not mean that wines on the Left Bank are of inferior quality; they are just not as consistent.
The 2023 vintage is an excellent year for dry and sweet whites! The weather conditions during the growing season and harvest have been quite favorable. The white grapes were healthy and incredibly aromatic.
The weather was typical for the season in the first four months of the year, and the flowering process went by quickly, promising generous yields. However, high temperatures and rainfall caused mildew outbreaks, affecting some appellations more than others.
July and August were hot and dry, while September had moderate temperatures, which ensured perfect ripeness, healthy grapes, and an abundant quantity of them. The red grapes were not small, had less sugar (0.5-1%) than in 2022, and achieved perfect acidity.
The quality and consistency of the 2023 vintage are lower than those of 2022. However, the perfect acidity in 2023 gives the wines a fresher and more vibrant taste. The purity of the fruit, tenderness, and striking elegance are the hallmarks of the vintage for me. Many properties created wines that are equally stunning as in 2022 and, in several cases, slightly better than that. This is especially evident in Saint Emilion and Pomerol. You will find overoaked and over-extracted wines across Bordeaux in 2023, but they are in small numbers.
I won’t compare 2023 to any other vintage; it indeed has its own flavor and style!
As of the time of writing this report (early May 2024), it has been confirmed that prices will likely decrease by 25-40% when prices from several chateaux have been released. This is excellent news for consumers.
Grades for rating wines:
98-100p - perfectly made wines, well on the way to becoming legends.
96-98p - truly remarkable wines with a lot of style and class, great potential, and fabulously made.
94-96p - very focused wines with great precision, personality, and complexity.
92-94p - remarkable wines with style and grace.
90-92p – well-made wines with nice character and focus.
88-90p - admirable quality.
85- 87p – reasonable wines.
Important!
I'll continuously add my TNs to the website during the coming weeks. The first in line are wines from Pomerol and Saint-Emilion.
Pomerol:
This district produced several wines of the vintage and some other tremendous wines as well!
L'Eglise Clinet: 90% Merlot + 10% C. Franc. 14.6% alcohol. This wine is a close rival to the mind-boggling 2022 vintage. It's a powerful yet elegant wine with plenty of black cherries and blueberries, spiced up with grated dark chocolate. It’s a juicy, very intense, multilayered, finesse-clad, and sophisticated wine with excellent mid-palate and a mesmerizingly long finish. Awesome wine work! 98-99p.
Lafleur: 54% de Bouchet + 46% Merlot. It is dense, multidimensional, aromatic, and has power mixed with elegance, finesse, and tenderness. Velvety texture. You really don’t feel tannin and oak on the palate. Perfect acidity and awesome midpalate sum it all up perfectly. It is more accessible than the muscular 2022. Fabulous stuff! 98+p.
After tasting barrel samples from 2023, I had the opportunity to taste 2020 and 2019 Lafleur. The multidimensional 2019 (99-100p) and its sibling 2020 (99-100p) were a heavenly treat.
Petrus: 100% Merlot. It is softer and more elegant than 2022. It has intense notes of black cherries, blueberries, and violets, with velvety tannins, finesse, and incredible complexity. It is sophisticated, focused, and precise, with a refreshing finish. Wonderful effort. 98p.
Le Pin: 100% Merlot. 14% alcohol. It has fragrant aromas of violets and black cherries. Acidity is perfect and keeps everything in place. The tannin is barely noticeable, the structure is seamless, and there is excellent mid-palate vibrancy and a sophisticated touch. Amazing stuff. 98p.
La Conseillante: 88% Merlot + 12% C. Franc. 14% alcohol. It is very aromatic on the nose, with violets and iris, blueberries and blackberries, and delicate and distinguished on the palate with terrific elegance and finesse. It has a sophisticated touch and richness. Liquid cashmere. Long and lingering aftertaste. It's a fascinating effort and just a notch after 2022 excitement-wise. 97-98p.
Trotanoy: 100% Merlot. It has an intense aroma of wild cherries, violets, dark chocolate, and coffee bean notes. The wine is juicy and fleshy yet elegant on the palate, with great complexity, mid-palate, and strong structure. It needs several decades to mature. In terms of quality, it is just behind the 2022 vintage. 97-98p.
Vieux Chateau Certan: 82% Merlot + 18% C. Franc. 14% alcohol. Intense violets and blueberries are present on the nose. It is distinguished and tender on the palate, mineral, with great complexity, vibrant, superb mid-palate, and a long and persistent finish. Fabulous stuff. 97+p.
L'Evangile: 78% Merlot, 21% C. Franc, and 1% C. Sauvignon. Violets, morello cherries, truffles, elegance and finesse, many layers, and a sappy, vibrant, sophisticated, persistent finish. It continues the refined and elegant style first seen in the 2022 vintage. Formidable. 97p.
La Fleur Petrus: 96.5% Merlot, 3% C. Franc and 0.5% P. Verdot. It has dark chocolate, crushed cherries, and blueberries, with notes of violets on the nose. Juicy and complex on the palate, with grained tannin and a long finish. Superb effort! 97p.
Clinet: 75% Merlot + 25% C. Franc. 13.7% alcohol. Aromatic black cherries garnished with violets and truffles on the nose. It is juicy on the palate with great structure, is vibrant, has great complexity, and has a long aftertaste. Terrific stuff. 96-97p.
Petit Village: It's the first vintage with a certificate of biodynamic vineyard. I tasted it both at the property and at the UGCB tasting at Le Gay and got the same impression. 65% Merlot, 25% C. Franc and 10% C. Sauvignon. 13.5% alcohol. It's powerful, with a big palette of aromas, including violets and creamy wild cherries, It is bold, with a strong backbone, complexity, fluent midpalate, and a long and persistent aftertaste. Excellent effort. 96+p.
La Croix St. Georges: 100% Merlot. 14.1% alcohol. It's more elegant and tender than usual, with plenty of creamy black cherries and blueberries, notes of dark chocolate, grained tannin, lively, bright acidity, excellent complexity, and a long-lasting finish. It is almost as impressive as the 2022 version. Superb for the vintage. 96p.
Bourgneuf: 90% Merlot + 10% C. Franc. I tasted it on three occasions: at the property, Jean-Pierre Moueix, and Grand Cercle, and the wine was truly impressive everywhere! It is beautifully scented and intense on the nose, with black cherries, blueberries, violets, and black truffle. To be honest, I don't recall any recent vintages of Bourgneuf having such a broad aromatic palette. It is coated on the palate with great complexity and structure, a splendid midpalate, silky tannin, and a lingering finish. A winner! 95-96+p.
At the property, I have additionally tasted the fabulously made 2019 (96p), a bit restrained 2020 (95p) and 2021 (93p).
Certan de May: 65% Merlot, 25% C. Franc and 10% C. Sauvignon. It has an expressive nose of aromatic black cherries and fragrant violets, with added notes of black truffles. It is sappy, fine midpalate, velvety, graceful, complex, and has a lingering finish. Superb. 95-96p.
Le Gay: Tasted twice. More tender and elegant this time. Well-integrated acidity and oak. Fragrant cherries and violets, juicy, grained tannin. Well-constructed and complex, lingering finish. Splendid effort. 95p.
Belle Brise: Very cherry (both black and morello) and fragrant violets. Elegant with finesse and purity, vibrant, complex, and precise. Grained tannin. Lingering finish. Lovely and seductive stuff. 94-95p.
Sacre Coeur: 100% Merlot. 14.15% alcohol. It is floral on the nose with fragrant violets, juicy and well-knitted on the palate, with a velvety texture and refreshing acidity. Elegant with a cherry aftertaste. Very fine indeed. 94-95p.
Seraphine: 100% Merlot. 14.5% alcohol. It is very aromatic on the nose, with black cherries mixed with grated dark chocolate. Elegance and finesse, silky tannin, vibrant, velvety structure, and a lingering finish. It's a superb effort that, in my opinion, surpasses the 2022 vintage. 94-95p.
Martin Krajewski, the owner, kindly allowed me to taste two additional vintages of Seraphine, including the very aromatic and subtle 2019 (93p) and the more intense 2020 (93-94p). Thanks a lot!
Cantelauze: 90% Merlot + 10% Cabernet Franc. It has a beautiful cherry nose with notes of violets and black truffle, fine acidity, and silky tannin on the palate. There is a fine balance, complexity, structure, and a lingering aftertaste. It's on par with 2022. 93-94p.
I also tasted other vintages of this wine: 2021 (92p), 2020 (94p), and 2018 (93-94p).
Saint-Emilion:
It has been an astonishingly successful district in 2023, enjoying great consistency with several potential candidates to earn the title "wine of the vintage." And many other wines aren't bad, either!
Ausone: I visited Ausone in mid-April and spent an hour with Edouard and Constance Vauthier, during which I had the pleasure of tasting their 2023s. The Grand Vin is made from a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc and 40% Merlot and has an alcohol content of 14%. This blend has the highest percentage of Cabernet Franc in recent years. Although delicate, Ausone should not be underestimated due to its underlying power and intensity beneath its elegant, finesse-clad, and sophisticated core. The wine has an extremely seductive floral aroma (violets!) with great complexity, sublime structure, and excellent acidity. Huge amounts of fruit perfectly balance the oak. The aftertaste won’t end. It is difficult to say if it will be better than the 2022s, but we will know that after bottling. 98-99p.
Beausejour (Duffau Lagarrosse): Josephine Duffau-Lagarrosse continues her fairy tale. She produced exceptional wine in 2023, agonizingly close to her stunning effort in 2022. This wine comprises 70% Merlot and 30% Cabernet Franc, with 14% ABV. The nose is utterly expressive and fragrant, with scents of black cherries, violets, and iris. It is pure, graceful, elegant, and sophisticated on the palate. The wine has excellent acidity, a great mid-palate, and silky fruit embraced with velvety tannins that gently caress your taste buds. The finish is long and mesmerizing, and the wine tells you to come back for more!
Josephine is replacing the old vinification cellar with a new one this summer (2024). The new cellar will increase the number of vats from 9 to 16 (mostly the concrete ones), as she wants to extend parcel-by-parcel vinification to more vats. She has also planted more Cabernet Franc in the vineyard. 98-99p.
2023 Croix de Beausejour, Beausejour's second wine, blends 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc and has a fragrant bouquet of raspberries and red currants. The palate shows a silky texture, crunchy fruit, and a lingering aftertaste. It is a captivating wine. 91p.
2021 Beausejour - now in bottle. Only 27 hl/ha. 95+p. 2021 Croix de Beausejour - 89p.
Cheval Blanc: 46% Cabernet Franc, 52% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. 13.8% alcohol. On the nose, it has a burst of fragrant violets and roses, accompanied by aromatic cherries and raspberries. The blend showcases the Cabernet Franc, which is particularly noticeable. The wine has a perfect structure on the palate, with a fabulous mid-palate and silky texture. It is vibrant and has stunning richness. The finish is so heartfelt. It’s an incredibly fascinating wine. 98-99p.
I also tasted the bottled 2021. Sublime, subtle, and elegant. 96+p.
Figeac: It's the 130th vintage of the Manoncourt family. The blend consists of 42% Merlot, 32% Cabernet Franc, and 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, with an alcohol content of 13.5%. The wine has a delightful aroma of raspberries, violets, and iris. It is subtle and mineral on the palate, with great depth and structure, an excellent mid-palate, silky texture, grained tannins, and an exquisitely long aftertaste. I expect this wine to compete with the 2022 vintage to become the best Figeac produced recently. This is an outstanding effort. 98-99p.
Frederic Faye, the manager at Figeac, was kind enough to let me taste the 2021 and 2020 vintages. 2021 was formidable all the way, and I rated it 96p. 2020 was captivating and a sheer delight for the senses. 98+p.
Angelus: Stephanie Rivoal de Bouard, CEO of Angelus since 2012, has transformed this property into a refined and intellectual wine in recent vintages by increasing the amount of Cabernet Franc and using considerably less oak. The young winemaker since 2017, Benjamin Laforet does a great job at Angelus. The wine is 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc. On the nose, there are intense morello cherries and raspberries, while on the palate, it's elegant and plush, with a strong backbone, great complexity, sophisticated touch, and finesse. It has a great mid-palate and long aftertaste. This is stupendous quality. 98p.
After a barrel sample of 2023, I enjoyed 2021 Angelus, a silky and sophisticated wine that tasted even better now than from the barrel. 96-97p. During lunch, I was treated to a wonderful bottle of the 2000 Angelus, which was truly spectacular and timeless. 99p.
Tertre Roteboeuf: Excellent news for fans of flamboyantly flavored fruity wines from this property! Francois Mitjaville has crafted an iconic 2023 vintage! The wine had a powerful aroma of black cherries and violets. The palate was rich and seductive, with excellent complexity and seamless structure. Silky berries and grained tannin. Sophisticated touch. The finish was long and caressing. As usual, it was an utterly expressive effort from Francois Mitjavile. 97-98p.
The 2022 TR I tasted afterward was a dream wine to enjoy and had even more intensity and length than the 2023 vintage. 98p.
Belair Monange: 98% Merlot + 2% C. Franc. It is very aromatic on the nose with black cherries and violets, delicate, vibrant, and sappy on the palate, with great complexity and length, finesse, velvety tannin, and a long, lingering finish. This is a very impressive effort for the vintage. 97-98p.
Beausejour Becot: 77% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Franc and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. 14% alcohol. Significant improvements have been made since Julien Barthe became the general manager of this property in 2016. In 2018, a new technical director also joined the team, and together, they have overseen a modernization project that included the construction of a new underground cellar. While 2022 is an exceptional year for B. Becot, 2023 also promises to be entirely exciting (an expressive wine with finesse) and gets a rating of 97+p.
Canon: 71% Merlot + 29% C. Franc. 14% alcohol. It is a highly flavorful and delicate wine with tones of morello cherries, roses, and violets. There is great complexity and structure, silky tannin, a splendid midpalate, and a long aftertaste. Superb wine. 97p.
Croix de Labrie: 85% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. 14.2% alcohol. It has a great nose with intense notes of black cherries, blueberries, and violets. The wine is expressive with great finesse and elegance, a velvety structure, grained tannins, fine acidity, and an intense finish. Well done, Courdurie couple! 96-97p.
Le Dôme: 80% Cabernet Franc + 20% Merlot. 14.1% alcohol. It is deep and intense on the nose, with notes of crushed cherries, black truffles, and violets. On the palate, it is concentrated, splendidly structured, and vibrant, with a great mid-palate. It has great refreshing acidity, length, and a long finish. Formidable. 96-97p.
Clos Fourtet: Tasted twice with the same impression. Delicious on the nose with cherries, raspberries, and violets. Elegant with finesse. Acidity is well-integrated. Great complexity and midpalate. Long and persistent finish. Excellent effort. 96+p.
Valandraud:
Corbin: 90% Merlot + 10% Cabernet Franc. 13.4% alcohol. This is a subtle and captivating wine with pure finesse and elegance, great balance, and velvety texture. It has a broad palette of aromas, especially violets and iris. The perfect acidity, vibrancy, and "invisible" tannin make this wine an utterly seductive "catch." As impressive as 2022! 96p.
Anabelle Cruse Bardinet let me retaste vintages 2022 (96p), 2021 (93-94p), and 2020 (96p). It's a pretty collection. Thanks a lot!
La Confession: 70% Merlot, 27% C. Franc and 3% Malbec. 14.5% alcohol. Blackberries and blueberries on the nose, juicy and well-defined. It is more elegant than powerful, with finesse and fine acidity, vibrancy, and splendid structure. Modern in its expression. Persistent finish. Superb effort. 96p.
Maison Cardinale (Fleur Cardinale):
La Couspaude: Tasted twice, this wine has fragrant notes of wild strawberries and spicy raspberries on the nose. It is well-knitted, juicy, tender, elegant, with finesse, splendidly structured, and has a lingering finish. A gorgeous wine. 94-95p.