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.

I tasted fewer wines from Pomerol than I’d have liked owing to a shortage of time on my recent Bordeaux primeurs trip. I stopped off at Château Beauregard for the UGCB tasting there. This line-up was generally very consistent, and many attractive wines have been made. They are all very much of the vintage, structured, vivid and fresh. Earlier in the trip I tasted blind the Pomerol represented by the Grand Cercle. These were a bit more mixed, which I think is related to the challenges of heat and drought in 2025 and what this meant for soils on drier sandier plots. There seemed a correlation with those wines that felt a bit less ripe in tannin, with more austerity, and being on sandier soils. Remember that the yields in 2025 were also very low, not simply owing to the heat and drought, but also the inherited effects of the tricky flowering period in the preceding 2024 growing season. In fact, yields were generally in the 30hl/ha area. So, what are my picks?

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?

Super winemaking here, as ever. The Neipperg’s have retained delicacy here in what is a very structured, dense vintage. On the right bank, Château d’Aiguilhe in Castillon looks to have been particularly successful in 2025. It is layered and vibrant and sure to be worth adding to the cellar. So too the St Emilion Grand Cru Classé Clos de l’Oratoire which has appetising aromatics and is textured and zappy on the palate. Château Canon La Gaffelière has more delicacy and verve. It is not the most outwardly concentrated Premier Grand Cru Classé that I tasted during primeurs but it has super balance and drive. There is intensity but this is not over extracted [and there is a lot less over-extraction going on generally nowadays on the right bank]. Well-judged in my opinion. Finally La Mondotte is opaque and really deep. This is a layered wine which is focused and intense. Super stuff.