Bordeaux Futures 2024

Characterized by rainfall, the 2024 vintage was a challenging one in Bordeaux. And yet, the most resilient estates rose to the challenge and managed to produce wines of excellent quality that will reward the shrewd Bordeaux buyer. We’ve carefully evaluated the wines to bring you the best – and the biggest surprises – of the vintage.

Our Bordeaux buyer, Lisa Chapman, Senior Category Manager, has been with the LCBO for more than 20 years, with nearly a decade focused exclusively on French wines. This vintage marks her ninth Bordeaux Futures campaign. Here, she shares her impressions of the 2024 wines.

Impressions of the 2024 vintage

While not the great vintages of 2022 or 2000, the 2024 vintage showcases instances of excellent vineyard management and winemaker expertise. This will be the vintage to secure wines at historically low prices.

While visiting many châteaux, the topic of conversation was the high volume of rain received in the early season. It was not an exceptionally hot or sunny later half of the season, as it was in 2022, so producers had to use technology, knowledge and patience when creating these wines, resulting in a classic, lighter, fresher vintage.

The 2024 spring started with a high volume of rain and mild temperatures, which led to early budbreak and mildew. This also caused uneven flowering and coulure, causing challenges in the vineyard.

But after the rain, the weather shifted significantly in July and August. July was a relatively dry and warm period. In August, the temperatures rose with a mix of heat waves and a lot less humidity, assisting with the issue of the mildew from the spring and July. 

The season started early and ended late, with the harvest ending in late September into October. Producers had to carefully time their harvest to preserve freshness. It’s one of the better vintages for whites and Sauternes. 

The key to this vintage was the selection and the sorting of grapes. This vintage was all about choices by the people who crafted these wines. The volume is down in the vineyard and there is a larger percentage of grapes that did not make it to the vat.

Overall, many producers managed the challenging vintage with a vision for the future, with patience and composure. I felt this was a classic vintage that will need time to evolve. The quality of vintage does range from estate to estate and terroir to terroir. It’s really a vintage that displays vineyard management and winemaking techniques. Some of the best wines of this vintage, in my opinion, came from Pomerol, St. Émilion and Pessac-Léognan.

For me, some of the standout estates were Carmes Haut-Brion, Figeac, La Conseillante and Cheval Blanc. And of course, the Sauternes and Barsacs will not disappoint.

Conclusion

The 2024 vintage is a heterogenous one. The top wines will benefit from extended ageing to develop complexity and structure. We are going to see historically low pricing on some of the estates, so if you have never immersed yourself in the Bordeaux Futures campaign, this is a wonderful year to jump in the water. Especially after the rain!

Order now. Wines arrive in 2027 >

Bordeaux Futures 2023

The 2023 vintage is a fascinating one, unique from any in recent memory, and not solely for what happened in the vineyards. A complex assortment of environmental and commercial factors made it a challenging vintage, but one that offers excellent opportunities for the savvy shopper.

Impressions of the vintage
Unlike the drought of 2022 or the frost of 2021, no specific weather event defined the 2023 vintage. Damp weather and the resulting problems with mildew created significant issues for some producers, but not broadly enough to categorize the vintage. For those who managed the disease pressure, the size of the harvest is healthy. This, coupled with uncertain economic times, softer global demand, and what is widely considered an inconsistent vintage, means we’re expecting significant price reductions from the 2022s. At the time of writing, it’s safe to say that most châteaux will be reducing their prices by between 15% and 25% or more.

The vintage began with a damp spring but a critical break in the rain at the end of May provided excellent conditions for flowering and laid the foundation for an ample crop. However, more wet weather followed, and mildew pressure continued through July. Modern control methods kept the berries in good condition, though for some producers the mildew did affect yields.

Summer was hot but cloudy with high humidity. The white harvest started in late August and these wines are very good, with enough ripeness and plenty of acidity. The red harvest began in early September, with Merlot being picked first. Significant rain in early September put a halt to harvest until the middle of the month. The remainder of the harvest took place under ideal conditions, with a long warm, dry period that extended through to the middle of October. While forecasters predicted severe storms leading up to and during the harvest, they never materialized and producers who chose to wait were rewarded with fruit that achieved optimal ripeness and plenty of intensity. Harvest was by and large completed by mid-October and the quality of the fruit showcased how a warm, dry fall can salvage an underwhelming summer; something that has not been possible to say of Bordeaux in a long time.

Ultimately, the vintage is a château vintage, as producers’ decisions defined the quality and style of the wine more than the weather. Spraying in spring was critical, and producers with the deepest pockets, or the greatest determination in the vineyard, were the most successful at limiting the impact of mildew. An abundant crop had to be deftly managed, dropping fruit to intentionally lower yields and encourage ripening. It took fortitude to gamble on potential physiological ripeness and hold off on harvesting despite the dire forecasts. Those who managed these decisions produced outstanding wine, but missteps impacted the quality from some producers significantly.

As a generalization, the Cabernets (both Sauvignon and Franc) were well-positioned to take advantage of the warm, dry fall, and both show considerable power and ripeness. First and foremost, great terroirs produced successful wines, as can be seen from the Merlot-dominant Pomerol plateau, which are among the best wines of the vintage.

Across the board, the 2023s reveal a correlation between the financial resources available to a producer (or determination of growers to fend off the mildew) and the success of their wines. For this reason, top châteaux and prime terroirs certainly fared better than others.

Over the course of our tastings, we often found that all the wines from a particular stable either performed well or suffered collectively; a clear reflection of the choices made by individual châteaux through the season. The wines of Château Montrose, including Château Tronquoy and their second wine La Dame, were outstanding, as are the wines from Mouton including d’Armailhac and Clerc Milon. Lafite’s 2023 Duhart-Milon is as good as any vintage we have tasted. On the Pomerol plateau, the wines that most impressed were La Conseillante and L’Eglise Clinet. The wines from Lafleur were all superb, with Grand Village offering tremendous value. As always, Christian Moueix did an excellent job, especially with Bélair-Monange, Latour à Pomerol and Hosanna.

Conclusion
The 2023 vintage offers a stark contrast to the 2022s. We saw consistent quality across regions and price bands in 2022, but we also saw consistent price increases. In 2023, the quality is more variable, but prices, especially at the high end, are coming down. For the savvy shopper, 2023 is a vintage to shop up. The best values are found in the region’s best wines. – Vintages panel

Order now. Wines arrive in 2026 >