The Côtes de Bordeaux is always a source of great value Bordeaux, especially in decent vintages. I don’t expect this to be news to you, but it is worth repeating! 2025 is an exciting year for the best terroirs in Bordeaux and there are notable successes for me amongst the Bordeaux Côtes – in my tastings this includes Cadillac, Blaye, Francs and Castillon. Very good wines have been made at Château Alcée, Château Côte Monpezat, Château d’Aiguilhe, Château de Laussac and Clos Puy Arnaud in Castillon. There are also good wines to be had in Cadillac including Château Carignan, Château de Ricard and Château Réaut. In the Francs, Château La Prade and Château Puygueraud are very impressive for the reds with Château Puygueraud and Château Les Charmes Godard looking great for the whites. Château d’Aiguilhe has also succeeded with an excellent white [100% Sauvignon Blanc] in 2025.

Various wines tasted from the Bordeaux Supérieur, Côtes de Bordeaux and Fronsac appellations are fresh and have lots of zap and tension in 2024. They feel more in line with 2021 and 2017 in my book. I was impressed with Château Reignac’s regular bottling Bordeaux Supérieur and Château Leroy-Beauval’s offering. In the Bordeaux Côtes I enjoyed Château Haut Bertinerie in Blaye which was fresh and vivid, alongside Château Côte Montpezat, Cuvee Compostelle and Château Ampélia in Castillon. In Fronsac Château de La Dauphine was appetising with appealing black cherry notes. All these wines should fill out further during élevage. The following notes are taken from samples sent to the UK by the Grand Cercle on behalf of their members. I am grateful to them for supplying them. It is by no means a comprehensive range of the wines they represent, but it felt a decent sample. I look forward to tasting all these wines [and others] again after bottling.

I’m still in the process of requesting samples from Bordeaux but I wanted to publish some overall thoughts and picks on the sixty wines sent by the Grand Cercle. These are mostly wines from the right bank, including a number of top St Emilion Grand Cru Classés, but also a fair number of Crus Bourgeois from the left bank’s Médoc and Haut-Médoc appellations. The highlights have been amongst the wines from St Emilion, but the few Pomerol’s I’ve had also look fresh and enticing. There are also promising wines from Blaye, Castillon and Fronsac too. I’ve been generally impressed by the harmony and freshness of wines on the left bank, with some attractive and vigorous wines from the Médoc. Overall, these are wines lower in alcohol than the recent stellar vintages in 2018, 2019 and 2022, owing to the vagaries of the 2024 growing season which was often humid threatening rot, wet at the wrong times, and lacking in sun. Nevertheless, despite the unpromising conditions, attention in the vineyard, strict selection and wise choices in the cellar have enabled the best and most diligent properties to pull a rabbit out of the proverbial hat. Below are the immediate picks from members of the Grand Cercle.

Well, the 2024 samples are arriving. I couldn’t make it over to Bordeaux for the annual primeurs shindig this year in April owing to pressure of other work and family commitments. That said I’m keen to get a handle on the vintage and I’m now getting samples sent in from various organisations and properties. This week I’ve had six cases arrive from the Grand Cercle and I have been busily working through these. Other samples are due in next week. It would have been better to taste these in situ obviously, especially as barrel samples don’t tend to travel that well and have a short shelf-life once they arrive. That said the best still shine in the circumstances. The 2024 Bordeaux growing season was a tricky one, as it was across much of France. Humid weather, a summer short on sunshine and rain during the harvest proved problematic across the region. It was a busy year for the châteaux who had their work cut out in the vineyard and the cellar to produce good wines. But vintage variation adds to the fascination of Bordeaux wine and there will be a number of successes in this vintage I’m sure.