I think that’s a mistake from Total Wine. There’s no TWA review for the 2025
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In case anyone on the east coast around NJ/DE/Phila/NY might be interested, I think if I purchase at least 24 bottles I might be able to get the pricing down to about $40 a bottle shipped. While that would only be as good as the best offer briefly seen at WTSO, I think that might be a reasonable price considering the wine quality. I’m asking this 2025 Château Jean Faure, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classé | Haynes Hanson & Clark team at Haynes, Hanson & Clark to give me a full quote. They seem reasonably reputable.
Having visited a number of châteaux and having questioned them about en primeur and how the samples are prepared for tastings, I now have absolutely no illusions about whether the tastings are in any way representative of the actual bottled cuvée.
They are not. At all. Nor, really, can they be. At best they are a representation of how good the bottled product might conceivably be.
Is there any risk to tainting the 2025 wines that are currently maturing before bottling from the smoke and wildfires? And thoughts on how it might affect the 2026 grapes?
Would love to hear your thoughts and insights..
I can’t imagine the 2025s will be affected. The caves are generally very well isolated from the outdoor climate.
As for the 2026s, Jeff Leve here says they likely won’t be affected, and I don’t have the knowledge to contradict him.
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As of today, there is no reason to consider smoke taint as an issue in 2025 or 2026. First, the fires are quite far from most vineyards, 15-50 kms away, depending on the appellation. Next, chemicals in smoke taint don’t last forever, they dissipate with distance. Usually in Bordeaux winds move east to west, away from the vineyards.
Most importantly, Bordeaux is relatively flat. In the Medoc, your peak elevation is 42 meters at Chateau Fonreaud. In the Right Bank elevations peak at about 110 meters at Pavie, or Troplong Mondot, depending on who you ask.
Napa, and Oregon are valleys with steep hillsides and mountains, which trap the smoke.
As of today, fires are still burning in Bordeaux but they are slowly being brought under control. Though one scary point is that there are tree roots burning underground. However the recent heatwave is breaking, which is welcome news.
The rocade, (the main freeway) has reopened as is the airport. No vineyards I know of have suffered any fire damage. That being said, at least 500 homes have been lost.
Regarding 2026, the harvest will be quite early this year. Whites will be picked starting quite soon. Reds could start as early as August 20 in the Righy Bank for young vines. Due to the two recent heatwaves, harvesting is not quite as early as expected. Also the Right Bank, especially Pomerol has received a lot more rainfall than the Left Bank.
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First time participating in EP, my first child, a daughter, was born in 25 so jumped in for the birth year wines. Her name is Margot so I did get a Mag of Chateau Margaux, maybe she can enjoy it on her wedding day. Also added the following, some new to me and some not.
Rauzan Segla
Montrose
Calon Segur
Palmer
Bran Cantenac
Mouton
Ch. Canon
Troplong Mondot
La Fleur Petrus
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I couldn’t pull the trigger on Troplong this year- I have for the past few years, but had a mental block about it being more expensive than Canon
If anyone is interested still in Jean Faure, Wine Cellarage is going to bring in 36 bottles at $54/bottle. It isn’t the best price on Earth, but given that it isn’t widely available and no one else is bringing it in for sure, I wanted to get my hands on it for myself and my 2025 child. I’m staking claim on 12 of the bottles. Feel free to DM me and I’ll pass on the info if you want to stake claim, but otherwise, maybe there will be a few bottles available at retail in the future. The only other alternative I could come up with for less was to bring in 24 bottles myself via the UK and then there would be some tariff unknowns to contend with in 2027.
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