A mixture of notes and thoughts here on wines from the Médoc and the Haut-Médoc in 2025. Generally, the same patterns are true here as with the wines in other appellations in this vintage. The colours are strong, the wines show plenty of fruit and structure and there is freshness and zap too. In the Médoc, I was particularly impressed by Château Loudenne which has depth and ambition. Château La Cardonne and Château Ramafort were also sturdy and fresh. Classic Médoc. The Haut-Médocs were generally very impressive. Amongst the picks were an intense Château Belgrave, a vivid Château de Camensac and a typically well-proportioned Château Coufran. Stand-out wines have been made at Château Cantemerle and Château La Tour Carnet, which have produced some of their best ever wines in my opinion. At Château La Lagune, some of the Cabernet Sauvignon was drought affected and not up to scratch, but the unusually Merlot dominant blend in 2025 is very enticing. Lots to enjoy here and they are sure to be at competitive prices for the quality.

Going through my notes you can easily see the patterns. Colour, minerality, intensity, structure, tannin, freshness and classicism are all descriptors that would lead the 2025 word cloud. Overall, it is a consistent vintage when taken together for the reds. Yes, there is some variation but generally the wines had a lot in common. It is an exciting vintage for sure. And there is a distinct style – 2025 reds are typically concentrated, intense, mineral wines with evident structures, fresh fruit qualities and plenty of tannin. Early drinking doesn’t spring to mind in many cases. As I said in my first thoughts, there are also a few wines at the lesser levels that feel a bit dry and puckering, where the phenolics were not ripe owing to the heat and drought of the growing season, and where the selection wasn’t as strict. But these are the exceptions. For the whites, I tasted less comprehensively. Generally, these were better than I expected given vintage conditions which on paper may not have favoured them. I will look at Sauternes and Barsac later. So far, early release prices for the reds have been competitive and encouraging, especially given the amount of recent Bordeaux on the market cheaper than initial release prices. You should certainly consider buying a fair bit of 2025 on a qualitative level. But if you do so now you want to believe you are paying less than you will later. I think this was only last true with 2019 en primeur pricing. So, fingers crossed the prices are right for 2025 and that you’ve enough space in the cellar [or can afford some storage for a few years]. If so, what where the standouts?

I don’t mean to stick the boot in to 2021. It’s always a bit glib to cast off an entire vintage, especially given the effort the vignerons make year in, year out. The real problem for the 2021 reds is that they sit amid a sea of much better Bordeaux at comparable prices. Unless you find 2021s priced well below better recent vintages [2022, 2019 & 2018], 2021 is not a terribly appealing purchase right now for the reds. It is also a heterogeneous vintage. As I said in my earlier post, quite a few of the red wines tasted at the MW Institute’s Annual Bordeaux tasting in November 2025 finished a bit short, often showing some rusticity to the tannins. While there are many genuine successes, there are also quite a few misfires. A number also seem to have retreated in bottle too, shutting down such that the fruit has dipped and the structure remains exposed, with noticeable acidity and tannin on the palate.

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.