Again the emphasis in St Emilion 2024 overall is freshness. The best exhibit vivid blue fruit characters and are appetising and moreish. There is heterogeneity though. If some are bracingly fresh and lively, others are solid and a bit unexciting. Others feel a bit green, and some are gentle, forward and probably early developing. Generally, the winemaking in the cellar feels sensitive enough, going with the material rather than against the grain. There are a few that feel a bit out of whack at present, either overly sappy or a bit drying. My experience is that these wines usually come good after élevage. Obviously 2024 doesn’t have the wow factor of the sunny, solar years here, like 2018 or 2022, the latter so seductive during primeurs. Still, it’s a journey, not a sprint and I’d be keen to see all these wines further down the track once they are bottled in twelve to eighteen months time as they will all probably pick up I expect.

The best wines in Lalande de Pomerol in 2016 have really good succulence and texture. My picks? Jean-Luc Thunevin has produced another beauty at Domaine des Sabines [pictured left]. This wine shows remarkable consistency year to year. Hubert de Bouard has produced two terrific wines in La Fleur de Boüard and Le Plus de la Fleur de Boüard. The former is ravishing; the latter profound and concentrated. Château La Fleur St George, another de Boüard property, also looks good. Château Grand Ormeau, Château Jean de Gué, La Sergue, Château Saint-Jean de Lavaud and Château de Viaud all impressed at the Grand Cercle tastings. Château Siaurac and Château Tournefeuille, two well-regarded properties, also show promise. Siaurac was a little backward but nicely structured and Tournefeuille displayed plenty of joyful fruit.

Well, there is no doubt about it. 2016 is a fascinating red wine vintage in Bordeaux across all the appellations. The quality of the wines took me by surprise, as it did Bordeaux’s vignerons themselves. The growing season proved to be the proverbial game of two halves. Spring was very wet indeed with variable weather, save for a perfect flowering period. Remarkable drought conditions then followed, with sun and heat, though the high summer days had a considerable diurnal temperature range, with cool nights. The lack of rain was a real worry by the beginning of September [with rising vine stress], but the vintage was made [saved?] but two bouts of essential rain in September. This allowed the grapes to achieve final ripeness [beautiful ripeness in many cases] which has resulted in a range of concentrated reds, with remarkably succulent tannins, fresh acids and reasonable alcohols [ie under 14 degrees]. At the top level the balance seems better than in 2009, and less obviously tannic than 2010 at this early stage. Amongst the wines l managed to taste, the vintage seemed more homogeneous too than 2015 [the 2016 vintage succeeds on both the left and right banks]. Some properties may have made perhaps their best ever wines [though only time will tell]. 2016 didn’t seem to be an exciting vintage for dry whites, though many were well made considering the challenging drought conditions, they didn’t leap out of the glass. I’ll be writing a more detailed overview in the coming week but here are my first thoughts as I began my tastings last Saturday in St Emilion.

There was some variation amongst the 2014 Lalande de Pomerol’s tasted in Bordeaux last month. A number are extremely impressive. Top of the list here would be Château La Fleur de Boüard [and sibling Le Plus], Domaines des Sabines and Château Les Vieux Ormes. I also enjoyed the tension and elegance in Château Siaurac, the grit and chew of Château de Chambrun and the plushness of Château Grand Ormeau. To varying degrees the other wines felt a little lean and harder edged. You’d imagine these will fill in and round out after elévage, so it would be good to look at them again further down the track.