Notes here on sixty-nine St Emilion 2025s. Looking back at the tastings the striking thing is the consistency. This is a seriously good vintage in St Emilion. The hot and dry vintage conditions have reigned in the alcohols [more on this paradox below] and the evident freshness and structure in the wines has given so many a vital intensity. It is a fascinating vintage to compare with 2022. It doesn’t have the heavenly quality of that vintage, but that is not to damn 2025 with faint praise. If 2022 is a vintage for the heart, 2025 is very much one for the head. In that sense it is a bit like 2009 versus 2010 – but with right bank winemaking and viticultural approaches now very different from those heady, extractive days. These are classical, moreish wines, which are impeccably balanced in the main. So, 2025 is a very exciting vintage indeed on the right bank. It is also one with a lot of value to be had. This is firstly as a lot of less famous estates have made super wine. Secondly, so far many of the best properties are releasing at sensible prices that might encourage an early purchase. This is good news for those of us who got a bit burnt with the pricing of 2022. So, what are the highlights overall from the tastings?

It’s always difficult to generalise about the wines in St Emilion, such are the complexities of terroir and the variations of winemaking and viticultural approaches. Still, I think it’s pretty safe to say that 2020 is another exciting vintage here in the heart of the right bank. In terms of the broader overview, alcohols are down slightly on the heady numbers in 2019, and it feels as if there is greater freshness in the 2020s than in the last couple of years. These wines feel well balanced and delicious in this vintage, with attractive textures and supple creamy tannins. On the best limestone and clay-limestone terroirs the wines are fabulous. The summer was dry, and conditions were even drier here than on the left bank. Some properties on sandier soils may have run into trouble with vine stress but generally I was very impressed by the wines here at this early stage. The following post contains notes on forty châteaux. It’s slightly less comprehensive than usual and I hope to fill in some of the gaps with further tastings over the coming months.