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.

All three of the top Moulis châteaux have performed well in 2019. Château Chasse Spleen is typically fresh and vibrant, always leaner than its rivals, but the extra richness of the vintage has supplied more middle than usual with nice texture on the palate. This will age well and needs three years or so to get set I reckon. Château Poujeaux has more evident depth and structure and feels well built for the long-haul, if currently rather tannic and grippy on the finish. You have five years at least to wait here. By contrast, unless it has shut down in the past six months, Château Maucaillou appears already attractive now, with plenty of red and black fruits on the palate [raspberry and plum tones]. You can decant this now and enjoy the lush fruit. The wines of Moulis continue to provide excellent value red Bordeaux. They also develop exceptionally well in bottle.

Final blog post for the moment on the reds of Bordeaux in 2020. I’ve grouped together notes taken on wines from the Médoc and Haut-Médoc in this post, as well as some specific communes like Margaux, Moulis, Listrac, St Julien, Pauillac and St Estèphe. All of these are based on samples sent by the Grand Cercle. I’ve yet to taste members of the Union des Grand Crus and there are a number of properties that I usually get to taste which I didn’t manage to organise this year. I hope to update these omissions soon. From what I have tasted the reds are fresh in the Médoc in 2020, although there is not the richness of 2019 or 2018 for me. In some there is a certain austerity and angularity. Wines tasted from the Haut-Médoc have good depth and colour, with freshness and zap, but again some can feel a little angular. A handful of wines tasted from St Estèphe look promising, with good colours and nice textures, and there were some nicely perfumed, fresh wines from Margaux. The few bottles I tasted from St Julien and Pauillac showed finesse, but were not quite up with the quality and concentration of the previous two vintages. Overall my tastings in these communes were not as comprehensive as those on the right bank this year. If you want detailed reports on the left bank wines I’d defer to others whose writing on Bordeaux I admire [Jane Anson, James Lawther, Chris Kissack, Neal Martin & Jeb Dunnuck all cover Bordeaux extremely well]. Nevertheless, I hope you find the notes on the following 24 wines useful.

In the Haut-Médoc, the 2017 vintage doesn’t quite play as well as perhaps I’d hoped back in 2018 during my primeurs tastings. A lot of sites inland from the Gironde, such as Listrac and Moulis, suffered from the April frosts, and this has obviously affected the choices of blending elements, as well as volumes [as elsewhere in Bordeaux in this vintage]. I’m a great fan of these two appellations as sources of good value, vigorous wines, that have plenty of zap and life. Unfortunately, there is a certain angularity to some of the wines here in 2017. While the best terroirs have made the best wines here – Château Poujeaux is the most convincing – 2017 is not a vintage to particularly seek out here over 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2018. All these vintages are fuller and more complete than 2017.