I’ve already posted thoughts on a number of leading properties in St Emilion in 2023. In addition to these visits, I also spent a morning tasting blind those St Emilion Grand Cru Classés at the Grand Cercle press event. I’ve included detailed thoughts on these properties in this post in addition to my earlier notes. Combined there are reviews here on just under thirty wines from the appellation in 2023. At the Grand Cercle event I was especially impressed with Château Grand Corbin Despagne, Château La Croizille, Château de Pressac, Clos Debreuil and Château Destieux. These wines had depth and style and fine texture. I also enjoyed Château La Marzelle and the biodynamic Château Fonroque. Overall, these Grand Cru Classés are different stylistically to the wines made at these properties in 2022, reflecting the elegance of the 2023s overall. While they lack the concentration and sheer volume of the ‘22s, they offer delicacy and more evident freshness and are by no means lacking concentration in their own right. It will be fascinating to follow the progress of the ’22 and ’23 vintages in St Emilion down the years.

Fronsac is usually a ‘go-to’ appellation for serious but good value Bordeaux. The finest properties here make excellent, ambitious wine, from exceptional limestone terroir. This over-achieving district doesn’t succeed as much in 2023 as it did 2022 [for me a knockout year for the wines of Fronsac] but there are still good wines to be had. I tasted nine wines blind in the Grand Cercle tastings back in late April. The picks? Château de la Dauphine has made savoury and attractive wine, alongside Château de la Rivière, Château La Huste and Château Fontenil. Château Moulin Haut Laroque also had lots of extract and texture. Château Villars and Château Dalem were good but lacked a bit of middle. They may well pick up depth during élevage. Château La Vieille Cure, usually up at the top of the pack, was not showing well on the day. That said, overall, there more consistency here amongst the wines than in the Castillon appellation in 2023.

The Grand Cercle always organise a very professional press tasting at Château de la Dauphine in Fronsac. It’s a great opportunity to taste the breadth of the wines made across Bordeaux, especially on the right bank. Amongst the Côtes de Bordeaux tasted with such a wide variety of terroirs [Blaye, Cadillac, Castillon and Francs] and approaches to winemaking, unsurprisingly there was heterogeneity. The most impressive 2023s for me at the Grand Cercle event from Castillon were Château Côte Montpezat, Château Veyry and Clos Puy Arnaud. Tasted elsewhere Château Alcée and Château d’Aiguilhe where also very good from Castillon. In Francs, Château La Prade and Château Puygueraud were excellent. Château de Haut Coulon looked good in Cadillac. Outside of these other 2023 Côtes de Bordeaux often felt lean and a little angular. These probably will flesh out during élevage, so it would be important to taste these wines again down the track once they are bottled.

It was great catching up with Matthieu Cuvelier at Clos Fourtet back in April. It’s now been twenty years since the Cuvelier family bought this stunning Premier Grand Cru Classé St Emilion property. It sits on exceptional terroir atop St Emilion’s limestone plateau just beside the town of St Emilion itself. It has gone from strength to strength under their management and recent vintages here have widely been seen as exceptional. It’s also been just over a decade since they purchased Grand Cru Classé, Château Côte de Baleau and sixteen years since they acquired Château Poujeaux, the jewel in the crown of left bank appellation Moulis. The Cuveliers have proved diligent custodians of these properties, fine tuning the approaches and getting the absolute best from these terroirs. These improvements have also been to the benefit of consumers as prices haven’t risen sharply in relation to quality. Clos Fourtet remains more reasonably priced than some other leading St Emilion properties and Châteaux Poujeaux remains one of Bordeaux’s great fine wine values. So how have all these properties faired in 2023?