June 18, 2024

The list is complete.

The campaign has now come to an end with every Chateau releasing their prices. Figeac and La Conseillante both came out at a very attractive price (Figeac down 40% from 2022) and the consensus wine of the vintage Montrose is a great buy at $155. Take another stroll through the list... the amount of good buys from blue chip Chateau is pretty staggering! As always please don’t’ hessite to reach out if you have any questions.

June 6, 2024

Lots of highly-anticipated big releases this week (at very sharp pricing!). Headlined by my pick for first growth of the vintage- Chateau Margaux and the always amazing Carmes Haut Brion. Carmes almost has a cult like following and it's proven to be an excellent buy en primeur as it has consistently gone up in price. At $110 this is a super buy (the 2022 was $159) and I expect it to sell out. Same can be said about the Pichon Comtesse and Pichon Baron-both are well priced and fantastic in 2023.

Others that deserve your attention-Giscours (best wine ever from this Chateau) . The always wonderful Chanel owned Rauzan Segla and Canon and last but not least the epic Palmer which was simply mind bending vino!

April 18, 2024

This week has been very busy in Bordeaux with quite a few releases. The Chateau continue to lower their prices (in many cases down 30-40% from 2022) and we have quite a few wines at or near 2019 levels. Certainly some great deals here at all price points. On the higher end of the spectrum Haut Brion and La Mission are at 2019 pricing (if you're like me you are kicking yourself for not buying the 2019-here's another chance!). Lynch Bages -superb wine/superb price, Ducru B same thing. Leoville Barton showed very well both times I tasted it and we have two of my "sleeper" bargain value plays on the list-Fieuzal and Mangot. Also, the potential 100 pt Suduiraut which is absolutely stunning. Finally a special mention for Pape Clement. This is easily the best wine they've made here in quite some time. It blew me away all three times I tasted it. It's right there with the LMHB. I kid you not.

April 30, 2024

I’ve just returned from a week in Bordeaux tasting the 2023 wines “en primeur”. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as I had heard many different things about the vintage. One thing seemed consistent in the message-it was quite variable (even in the same appellation) so best to come taste for yourself and see.

I’m happy to say that 2023 has turned out very well for many, many Estates. The wines were very easy to taste and quite a contrast to the more voluptuous 2022’s.  As Guillaume Pouthier of Carmes Haut Brion told me “this is a very unique vintage, in that the wines will be able to be enjoyed at a relatively young age but will easily age very, very well”. The best of the 2023’s are open knit, and the tannins are very finely managed. You can dive deep into the glass and realize that all the stuffing is there-it’s just a bit less obvious in this vintage. The wines tend to be more “linear” if that makes sense. One of the best wines I tasted, Chateau Margaux could have easily been enjoyed at dinner that eve (too bad they wouldn’t let me take the bottle home) but there’s no doubt it’s a 30 plus year wine. 

For the wines of the Medoc, Cabernet was king in 2023 as many estates suffered mildew issues with their Merlot. Many wines have a much larger percentage of Cabernet than usual, and this leads to the more sort of “classic” character in this vintage. Merlot fared better on the right bank of course, but like last year I’m seeing more and more wines with higher percentages of Cabernet Franc in the blend and this is nothing but a good thing. 
I was able to attend a few negociant tastings to re-taste many wines (as well as taste wines from Chateau I was unable to visit). More so than in past years, you could really feel the difference in terroir when you went from say Margaux to Pauillac. This is not always so evident in tasting barrel samples. The sense of place really shines through in 2023. 

William Kelly of the Wine Advocate sums things up very nicely and I agree 100%...

"Bordeaux’s 2023 vintage is a fascinating paradox. While the year was one of the warmest in recorded history, it wasn’t very sunny—in contrast with recent warm vintages such as 2022, 2020, 2019 and 2018. Between May and September, the growing season was dry; yet 2023 was also defined agronomically, as it was in the media, by periods of intense rainfall. And if recent warm growing seasons have tended to begin early and finish early, though 2023 may have begun with an early budbreak, the time between flowering and harvest was entirely classic, permitting leisurely hang time. The young wines, tasted from cask, reflect this paradox, possessing—at their best—the depth, density and ripe tannin of a sunny vintage but also the vibrant, expressive aromas and flavors of a more traditionally “Atlantic” season. The best 2023s are just as exciting as the best 2022s, even if the vintage is more varied in quality and style; yet the final paradox is that, due to a cool global economy and two consecutive lukewarm en primeur campaigns, the 2023s may be released at prices as interesting as any we have seen since 2019."

I hope the Chateaux listened to the message about pricing from myself and just about every other merchant! Phil Bernstein General Manager 

*First growths and “big” St. Emilion and Pomerol wines will come in wood three packs. All other wines will be in wood six packs.

My Top 10 wines (not in order):

• Montrose
• Margaux
• Palmer
• VCC
• Lafite
• Carmes Haut Brion
• Beausajour Duffau
• Cheval Blanc
• Figeac
• Pichon Comtesse

Always solid wines you shouldn’t miss:

• Anything starting with the word “Leoville” (Poyferre especially was quite delicious!)
• Branaire
• Haut Bailly
• Giscours
• Larcis Ducasse
• Coutet (2023 was very good for Sauternes and Barsac)
• Gruaud Larose
• Pape Clement

Under the radar sleepers:

• Tronquoy
• Berliquet
• La Tour Figeac
• Mangot
• La Pointe
• Rouget