Have tasted through the Medoc the last 2 days. Quality in Margaux is probably the best on average, but there are hits and misses in each AOC. Wine of the vintage for me in the Medoc is clearly Margaux followed by Palmer. Pavillion Rouge is better than most grand vins in Pauillac. Both Margaux reds had absolutely soaring aromatics. The white was also my favorite white I’ve tasted. There were some absolute “yikes” tastings, though.
Dame de Montrose will be the value of the year in the Medoc (unless they dramatically increase pricing which I cannot imagine they will this year). It was a very charming wine.
Combating disease pressure during the year can require extra help. Sorting is more rigorous and more grapes are left behind. Further sorting in the winery can lead to more grape loss. Less wine is produced, so the fixed costs get spread around a smaller pool of bottles.
Ian gave you a lot of the info. It’s much more labor intensive. For 2024, to combat botrytis and mildew attacks you need teams that are always ready to fight those attacks, which can start at any time, and those diseases can overwhelm a vineyard rapidly.
Some producers had to spray over 20 times this year!
Warm, dry, sunny vintages do not demand as much attention.
Yields range on average 20-32 hectoliters per hectare. Though some estates were in the 40s.
On average, as sorting was intense, the amount placed into the Grand Vin, vs Second wines was close to what each estates normally do on a percentage basis.
Has it ever made sense financially to buy vintages like this on EP? Generally, aren’t vintages like this available after the wines are released at lower prices. Obviously, there will be a few exceptions of wineries that do very well and are low production. But, when in your vast experience has it made sense to buy wines from a vintage like 2024 on EP?
Wouldn’t it entirely depend on the release prices? There’s some price where any vintage will sell. So if EP is priced lower than that, it makes sense. Also, market conditions dictate whether any sort of futures are a good idea. If the market is trending upwards, locking in your prices now makes sense.
If you are operating from the perspective that 1) EP is already so overpriced that even a reasonable reduction isn’t going to make it cheap enough and 2) the market for BDX is flat or declining, then I think you can come up with your own answer to the question.
The question one should ask given the current market is that are there ANY recent vintages that have made sense en primeur? Even 2019 is below where it came out.
The answer is No. Right now in this market dynamic it probably doesn’t. People will obviously draw a parallel to 2008, but world circumstances in 08 were quite different.
I don’t have Jeff’s EP tasting experience, but IMHO, 2008 certainly made sense, although it was probably a better vintage than 2024, so I suppose I would say 2002. However, in both cases, in France at least, the wines were no more expensive when they hit the shelves.
Very good point! I shudder to think of the chemical residues that some wines will contain. I remember a study made of 2002s that revealed some quite alarming figures.
If the prices did not go up between EP and release (or even a couple of years after release), why buy on EP rather than wait a couple of years and confirm what happens to the wines? EP also has somewhat of a delivery risk. I did not receive all the 1990s I bought because a middleman went bankrupt, for example. Certainly, in vintages like 1982 EP made a lot of sense in that prices went up dramatically between EP and release, but on vintages like 2024 is that really going to happen?
There are strict limits as to how much copper can be used. Today, vineyards are limited to 28 KG per hectare over a 7 year period.
Vineyards today are much cleaner than they were in 2002, and a world apart from the chemicals used in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. You find more certified organic vineyards ever year.
Figeac will be very intersting pricing wise - their push over the last 5 or so years to really significantly increase their price has basically been, on the current market, been a fucking disaster. Whether they embrace their fall from grace, or try to push it as they have been, will determine their fate
Overall consistency is far better on the right bank IMO. I only tasted one truly bad wine today, and it’s from a chateau I think always makes bad wine, so hard to blame that on the vintage.
Stars for me:
Ausone
VCC
Cheval
Conseillante
Figeac
Troplong Mondot
Best value Beau Sejour Becot.
As far as naming and shaming Chateaux that I suggest avoiding on a public forum, I think that’s probably unfair. OTOH, I’m obviously going to offer that guidance to customers, and I’m also happy to answer questions about any specific wine you may be considering via DM.