Bordeaux En Primeur 2023: the Unique Opportunity to Start your Collection The Bordeaux En Primeur 2023 campaign has been underway for a few weeks, setting the stage for what promises to be an exceptional vintage. Whispers of unprecedented quality and an impressive array of wines have energized the wine community, suggesting that the Bordeaux 2023 vintage may redefine expectations. At Vintage Cellar, we’ve closely followed the campaign, captivated by the insights from the esteemed châteaux. Producer and expert insights paint a vivid picture – a vintage destined to enthrall the palate and become a cornerstone of any discerning collection. These pronouncements resonate deeply with our own wine experts, whose commitment to exceptional quality reflects in our meticulously curated portfolio. Highlight on Key Châteaux and Their 2023 Releases The 2023 Bordeaux vintage has captivated us with its exceptional quality and remarkable diversity. Esteemed estates across the region have risen to the challenge of a demanding year, producing a collection of truly stunning wines. Let’s delve into some of the highlights that have particularly impressed our team at Vintage Cellar. First, Château Lynch-Bages, with its deep garnet colour and purple hues, promises a rich aromatic palette marked by impressively mature tannins and remarkable acidity. Then the 2023 Château Haut-Brion offers a lovely nose of ripe red and black fruits, with touches of licorice adding a pleasant complexity. On the palate, the wine starts off smooth and inviting, developing into a powerful and flavorful expression with a long-lasting finish. It’s a classic Haut-Brion, unmistakably. We couldn’t agree more with Jean-Philippe Delmas, Deputy Managing Director, who remarked, “This vintage will remain a reference.” For the highly coveted Château Cheval Blanc, each parcel has contributed to a “very Cheval Blanc” vintage, ensuring each bottle reflects the estate’s style and the climatic conditions of the year, while Carillon d’Angelus, with its bright, aromatic berries, a hint of florality, and some spice notes, embodies the excellence that St. Emilion offers. The 2023 vintage at Château Angelus stands out as innovative and unconventional and has succeeded in surprising us. Despite a wet, warm spring leading to outbreaks of disease across 90% of the vineyards by July, the 2023 Bordeaux vintage stands out for the resilience and innovative spirit of its vintners. Jean-Emmanuel Danjoy, Head Winemaker at Château Mouton Rothschild, describes the 2023 vintage as “a surprising paradox,” where warm conditions yielded wines with the characteristics of a cool vintage, thanks to the weather during the harvest and masterful blending choices. From our perspective, this paradox makes the vintage even more intriguing and delightful. Why En Primeur Matters The Bordeaux En Primeur campaign offers wine collectors and investors an unparalleled opportunity to secure allocations of the most esteemed Bordeaux wines while they are still in the barrel. This unique event allows enthusiasts to anticipate the remarkable selections from prestigious châteaux such as Château Haut-Brion, Château Lafite Rothschild, and Château Lynch-Bages. It’s a chance to build an enviable wine portfolio that promises exceptional taste and wise investment. This venture into the heart of the Bordeaux wine region ensures early claims to a vintage that has already stirred significant interest among wine lovers worldwide. Navigating the Bordeaux En Primeur 2023 with Vintage Cellar As the en primeur campaign progresses, Vintage Cellar encourages wine enthusiasts and collectors to seize this opportunity and secure their allocations. The 2023 vintage in Bordeaux is a testament to the region’s resilience and the unwavering commitment of its winemakers. For those who have already made their purchases, rest assured that your investment in the 2023 vintage will be rewarded with wines of remarkable quality and character. This vintage promises to be a highlight in any cellar, offering a captivating drinking experience for years to come. Vintage Cellar is here to guide you through the en primeur process, ensuring you have access to the finest wines from this remarkable vintage. Contact our wine advisor today to book a consultation and secure your allocations before they sell out.

The Bordeaux 2022 vintage has garnered immense praise from wine experts, with critics like James Suckling, Antonio Galloni, and Neal Martin providing their insights and assessments. This extraordinary year has left an indelible mark on Bordeaux wines, showcasing a unique combination of ideal weather conditions, exceptional grape quality, and the region’s ability to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change. The 2022 vintage has set a new benchmark for Bordeaux, offering wines that are characterized by their full-bodied nature, complexity, age-worthiness, and the potential for both immediate enjoyment and long-term cellaring. Moreover, experts suggest that investing in Bordeaux 2022 wines can be a rewarding endeavor. In this article, we will explore the evaluations and highlights from renowned critics, providing a comprehensive overview of the remarkable Bordeaux 2022 vintage.   James Suckling, a highly respected wine critic, describes the Bordeaux 2022 vintage as truly exceptional and believes it sets a new benchmark for the region. Suckling notes that this is the 40th vintage he has tasted en primeur, and he is impressed by the way Bordeaux faced the challenges of climate change, particularly the hot and dry conditions of the 2022 growing season. While the red wines steal the spotlight, Suckling also highlights the greatness of Sauternes wines in this vintage, with exceptional botrytis-affected wines produced. He praises the overall quality consistency across estates, from more modest ones to the grand châteaux, and identifies several wines with potential 100-point scores.   Top scorers: Château Cheval Blanc: 99-100 Points Château Lafite Rothschild: 99-100 Points Le Pin: 99-100 Points Château Leoville Las Cases: 99-100 Points Château Pontet-Canet: 99-100 Points   Antonio Galloni, in his report, expresses his enthusiasm for the Bordeaux 2022 vintage, describing the best wines as magnificent and viscerally thrilling. He considers them some of the most memorable young wines he has ever tasted. Galloni highlights the combination of flavor intensity, energy, and finesse found in these wines, which he describes as magical. He believes that the Bordeaux 2022 vintage showcases the region’s ability to thrive in the face of climate change. While some wines are considered a bit fragile, he is enchanted by the advancements in viticulture and winemaking.   Top scorers: Château Léoville-Las Cases: 98-100 Points Vieux Château Certan: 98-100 Points Château La Gaffeliere: 98-100 Points Château Cheval Blanc: 98-100 Points Château Beau-Séjour Bécot: 98-100 Points   Neil Martin shares his perspective on the Bordeaux 2022 vintage, emphasizing his frustration with estates insisting on individual tastings rather than larger events. He acknowledges the verdant health of the vines prior to harvest but questions the impact of the hot and dry conditions on the wines, despite some producers arguing otherwise. Martin finds the wines to be suffused with freshness, offering notable depth, freshness, and finely-sculpted tannins. While praising the best wines as dazzling, he also highlights some wines that exhibit flaws attributable to human error in picking dates. Martin emphasizes that these wines are meant for long-term aging and that terroir played a guiding role, resulting in a partial flattening of the hierarchical pyramid. Saint-Julien stands out as a standout region in his assessment.   Top scorers: Château Cheval Blanc: 98-100 Points Château Léoville-Las Cases: 98-100 Points Château L’Église Clinet: 98 Points Château Montrose: 97-99 Points Château Lafleur: 97-99 Points   Jane Anson’s evaluation of the Bordeaux 2022 vintage offers a distinct perspective. She focuses on tasting notes and scores, highlighting the high levels of tannin, color, and alcohol in the wines. Anson suggests caution with drinking windows due to the alcohol content. She notes the different approaches taken by producers, with stronger second wines in the northern Médoc and an advantage on Saint-Emilion’s limestone plateau. Pomerol is described as having a “muscular swaggering style” in this vintage.   Top scorers: Château Margaux: 98-100 Points Château Latour: 98-100 Points Château Cheval Blanc: 98-100 Points Château Ausone: 98-100 Points Château Lafleur: 98-100 Points   Ella Lister’s exploration of the Bordeaux 2022 vintage reveals exceptional qualities defying expectations. She emphasizes the wines’ brilliance, density, concentration, and surprising freshness, along with diverse enchanting textures. ‘These wines exhibit remarkable flavours while maintaining finesse and energy, surpassing all odds despite challenging conditions’. Bordeaux 2022 is a vintage of unparalleled excellence, showcasing the region’s commitment to crafting exceptional wines. The Bordeaux 2022 vintage, praised by various critics, offers full-bodied, complex, and age-worthy wines for immediate enjoyment or cellaring, making them a valuable choice for enthusiasts and collectors alike.   Top scorers: Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion: 96-99 Points Château Latour: 96-98 Points Petrus: 96-98 Points Château Ducru Beaucaillou: 95-98 Points Château L’Evangile: 95-98 Points

This January marks the start of Burgundy 2022 En Primeur and the perfect opportunity to add some of these fabulous wines to your collection. The 2022 vintage is being lauded as one of the finest vintages in Burgundy in living memory. Despite the warming temperatures, the almost perfect conditions and increasing skill of grape growers returned good quantities of beautiful berries that have translated into equally beautiful, age-worthy and highly collectable wines. Almost Perfect Vintage Conditions in 2022 2022 was one of Burgundy’s warmest and sunniest on record, yet despite this it has returned wines with fabulous freshness and balance. The well-timed watering of the vines from rains at the end of June and mid-August, as well as cool nights in the summer months allowed the vines to relax and temper the speed of the ripening process. The rain also effectively “diluted” the berries, bringing the concentrated flavors and sugars back into balance on the run in to harvest across the end of August and the first days of September, as producers welcomed bunches of near perfect fruit to the cellar.   Domaine Henri Boillot produces stunning reds and whites from across the Côte de Beaune. Age Worthy Reds The red wines of the 2022 vintage are widely reported to be already showing beautifully, even in their unfinished state as barrel samples. The Pinot Noir is supplying plush, crunchy red fruits, supple tannic structure, restrained alcohol and perfectly balanced freshness. All this adds up to a vintage of red Burgundies that will taste fabulous on release but will undoubtedly age for decades for those with the will power to allow them to do so. As Charles Van Canneyt himself put it, “I think it’s a charming vintage. The wonderful balance makes it both approachable and cellar-worthy.”   Volumes Ease Price Pressure A main factor for price rises across Burgundy in recent years has been the limited quantities available following low yielding vintages. The 2022 vintage, however, has been lauded as a return to “normal” volumes, and with the 2023 vintage also looking set to produce similar quantities, the pressure on producers and their baron cellars has been alleviated for now. This means that prices for this January’s En Primeur campaign look set to remain steady, which itself is an increasingly rare occurrence.   Domaine Charles Van Canneyt is one of Northern Burgundy’s most sought after, terroir-focused producers.   The Burgundy 2022 En Primeur Campaign Burgundy is one of the most iconic names in the world of fine wine, producing the finest expressions of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay anywhere in the world. These wines, from across renowned villages, especially the 640 Premier Cru and 33 Grand Cru vineyards, are now some of the most sought after, collectible and investment worthy wines money can buy. January’s En Primeur campaign gives the Burgundy lovers in our Vintage Cellar community crucial access to rare wines and exceptional releases.