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.

I’ve been a fan of Château de Pressac for a number of years. This is an impressive property that is surrounded by its own vineyard which looks out over the Dordogne valley in the [now fashionable] St-Etienne-de-Lisse commune of St Emilion. I had the chance to visit the château for the first time during my recent primeurs trip. Château de Pressac is the project of the ebullient and driven Jean-François Quenin who purchased the property in 1997 with his wife Dominique. Not only have they ploughed their own fortune into the property investing heavily in the vineyards and the cellar but also with time and hands-on graft as owner-occupiers and as champions of the wines of St Emilion more generally. It’s a big property at 40 hectares and has the most sublime terroir. The grand vin, Château de Pressac itself, has always had lots of purity and depth in my experience and the second label Château Tour de Pressac I’ve found to be impressive for what is effectively a second wine here. So how did the property fair in 2025?

Château Laroque continues to go from strength to strength. Director David Suire has now been at the helm for just over a decade, arriving here at the start of the 2015 vintage. He has helped fashion a set of terrific wines on what is a wonderful slice of varied terroir surrounding the property. Laroque continues to be one of the best wine values in Bordeaux. The release price [£117/$150 per six] is competitive with comparable vintages on the market. Frankly, it’s a bit of a bargain for the quality, though Laroque hunters should seek out the 2019 for immediate enjoyment! David Suire describes 2025 Laroque as, ‘Classical, in the very best sense.’ I know what he means.