Day 1 by Alex Turnbull, Published 15/04/2024

Day one saw the team start early doors at the Hangar Tasting in Bordeaux, a great opportunity to try a wide range of wines from across appellations. 2024 is a complicated vintage, but there have been some good wines made, and customers looking for lower alcohol and a more accessible style will still find plenty to like.

We then continued on to Haut-Brion, which reassuringly delivered exactly what we’ve come to expect from this hallowed First Growth. The mythical whites are well worth selling out for those lucky enough to be offered an allocation.

A quick lunch stop at de Fieuzal—who have made a brilliant set of wines in 2024 and which should present compelling value—and the team finished the day at Carmes Haut-Brion, which is unsurprisingly excellent.

Day 2 by Alex Turnbull, Published 16/04/2024

Day two saw us shooting up to the Medoc, starting with the two Rothschilds. Dubbed “a sailor’s vintage” by the team at Lafite, what they have identified correctly is that 2024 required quite careful navigation, both in the vineyard and winery.

This vintage did not make itself, and required very considered decision making by oenologists and vignerons. It’s too much of a simplification to say “it’s a Pauillac” vintage, or “it’s a Saint-Estephe vintage,” because the truth is that there are good wines in all of the appellations we’ve tasted so far, and it depended a lot more on the decision making than where the vineyard lies. Those who made the right decisions, and weren’t afraid to stand up to the trials and tribulations of the vintage, have made good, and in some instances great, wine.

Some of our highlights were Montrose, who have now isolated out Terrasses III from their Grand Vin, resulting in a deeply expressive and characterful Montrose; Ducru Beaucaillou who have been making First Growth quality wine (and pâté en croute!) for a number of years and continue this fine run of form; and Grand Puy Lacoste who are in the middle of building a new Chai and have turned out a very impressive 2024.

Day 3 by Alex Turnbull, Published 17/04/2024

Day Three saw us head over to the Right Bank, where we’d already heard rumours of just how good the wines are.

Immediately clear is that any generalisations about Merlot being underripe are ill-founded. While it certainly proved to be the trickier grape variety in 2024, Merlot dominant wines Vieux Chateau Certan and Canon are easily contenders for wine of the vintage. Berliquet is one of the best they have ever made, the cool terroir of the limestone plateau having a profound impact on the freshness and purity of fruit in 2024. Cheval Blanc discarded 34% of their harvest, made 12% into Le Petit Cheval, and put the rest into the Grand Vin, which shows their commitment to only making the very best they can in a given vintage.

The Vauthier family at Ausone have produced a brilliant set of wines, the Grand Vin being one of the most thought-provoking wines of the vintage. For those looking for value, Fonbel really shouldn’t be missed. Edouard Vauthier and his wife Camille graciously hosted us for lunch, defying any misconceptions by serving a main dish of stone bass (fish) with risotto and a red wine sauce, paired perfectly to Ausone 1989 pulled from their cellars. It was a perfect moment, reminding us that at the end of the day Bordeaux is all about people and place. When these two things come together, as they did in ’89, and as they are doing again now with the new generation of Vauthier family taking over, magic happens… Even in vintages like ’24.