A Vintage on the Verge

By Max Edge

Approx read time: 6 minutes

A View from the Edge

There’s a moment every spring, somewhere between the first frost and the first critic’s score, when Bordeaux steps into the spotlight. From late April through to June, the tide turns to the Gironde, drawing those in the wine world back to its banks to furiously swirl samples, rank releases, and pretend they’ve already forgotten Burgundy.  It’s theatre. It’s tradition. It’s Bordeaux En Primeur. It lives in the crosshairs — legacy and commerce, scrutiny and seduction. Reputations are forged, challenged and occasionally reimagined. And every year, the same question hangs in the air: does Bordeaux still move the needle? And now, with 2024 in the rearview mirror and the dust (mostly) settled, it’s time to take stock. Let’s be honest — this wasn’t the easiest sell. The vintage doesn’t shout “buy me”. Bordeaux endured a stop-start season, bookended by heavy rain and dogged by disease pressure. There were significant losses of crop and consistency was elusive but there were bright spots. You had to know where to look. This was one for those in gear with classical Bordeaux, not the cruise-control cellar fillers.

The Campaign in Context

This year’s campaign launched into a market nursing a hangover. A decade of bullish pricing, falling prices on the secondary market, and a string of recent campaigns still moored on merchant lists, waiting for a second wind, had left even loyal Bordeaux buyers questioning the rules of engagement.

Has en primeur still got it? Is this really the best price of a wine’s life? Budgets were tighter. Enthusiasm was muted. And the margin for error? Slim.

To cut through, a release needed three things: real quality, a compelling story, and a price that showed up to compete. The best releases found smooth sailing. The rest never left the harbour.

The Shape of the Vintage

Forget power and polish — 2024 is about precision, perfume and place. Alcohols are modest, acidities fresh. There’s lift, fragrance, and a sense of ease.

But this wasn’t an even playing field. Quality in 2024 was inconsistent — shaped as much by timing and decision-making as by terroir. Those with the means, the mindset, and the best plots had the upper hand. Where that trifecta aligned, the results are wines of poise and quiet confidence — not built to dazzle, but to drink.

In so-called ‘off’ years such as 2024, certain names prove themselves regardless of vintage: Margaux, now known for its remarkable consistency; Carmes Haut-Brion, with its still-rare whole-bunch approach creates wines of silky, seamless texture; and François Mitjavile’s releases show us each year why his wines have cult status. At Tertre Roteboeuf and Roc de Cambes, he coaxes a radiance and generosity that seem to float free of vintage conditions and his wines have a knack of outperforming Bordeaux’s most hallowed addresses.

The 2024s may not shout like the so-called ‘vintages of the century’, but they’ll win you over by the second glass. Elegant. Assured. Not for the headlines, but for the table.

The Critics Speak

It’s always fascinating to see what the critics make of a vintage. While we have clearly departed the Parker era, where a château’s destiny lingered on the ink of the pen, the voice of the critic still matters and our industry must fully support independent wine criticism.

2024 had been written off before a picking bin even hit a winery — whispers of a repeat of 2013 hung in the air. Yet when corks were pulled, critics found more to like than expected, praising the best wines for freshness, precision and an earlier-drinking charm.

Scores mostly landed in the low-to-mid 90s, with a few standouts nudging higher. Whether these will ever eclipse their 2020 or 2023 counterparts — vintages many consider superior yet similarly scored — remains to be seen.

Still, a cluster of the usual suspects delivered exactly where you’d expect: Châteaux Ausone, Cheval Blanc, Cos d’Estournel, Lafite, Léoville Las Cases, Margaux, Mouton, Palmer, Pichon Comtesse, Montrose, Trotanoy and Vieux Château Certan, and all showed their class.

Other châteaux that offered pedigree without the flagship price tag included Beau-Séjour Bécot, Bélair-Monange, Calon Ségur, Carmes Haut-Brion, l’Evangile, Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Haut-Bailly, Léoville Poyferré and Rouget, all earning nods from the critics.

And the whites? In true Bordeaux fashion, a red-light vintage often means green lights for whites. The vins blancs of Domaine de Chevalier, Duhart-Milon, Haut-Brion, La Mission Haut-Brion and Smith Haut Lafitte were all excellent in their own rights.

The Market Response

Bordeaux 2024 may have passed the critics’ scrutiny, at least for some estates, but when the focus shifted to price, the glare intensified. Many in the trade demanded 25%+ cuts on 2023 release prices, remembering that just a year ago they’d been calling for 30%+ off the 2022s. But it was never just about the headline discount. Buyers wanted value in a meaningful sense, which in 2024 meant landing the price as the cheapest in market, competing not only with last year’s vintage, but with an ever-growing supply of back vintages that are available now, with the certainty of immediate delivery, whether for drinking or laying down.

Some châteaux met that challenge head-on and were rewarded with real interest. Lafite went early and led the way: normally tightly allocated, this year unusually accessible — a boon for lovers of large formats, one of the lasting perks of buying en primeur. The First Growths as a group all came out below £300 a bottle, a level not seen in years. As the campaign drew to a close, two Pomerol icons showed their enduring pull: Château Trotanoy and Petrus disappeared on release. But elsewhere, promises of ‘no-brainer’ pricing never quite materialised, and buyers simply didn’t show.

The politicking of the ‘Super Seconds’ left some of their prices wanting. More often than not, the numbers could have — and should have — been sharper. These estates remain among Bordeaux’s best, with reputations to match — but in 2024, even a release £5–10 too high left volumes unclaimed by end consumers, while merchants and négociants were understandably reluctant to take up stock positions. In a selective vintage, it was all too easy to pivot to a neighbouring estate or commune offering similar quality at a keener price.

2024 was never going to be a vintage of immediacy — that much was clear before the campaign began and as the weeks went by momentum drifted. ‘The cheapest release in a decade’ became a tired refrain and in a market heavy with back vintages, the line rang hollow. A cut from last year is one thing; genuine value against the secondary market is another. For estates that grew used to bullish pricing after 2014, the market is still calling their bluff.

The verdict on 2024 was not about quality — it was about confidence. And that, more than the wines themselves, is where Bordeaux now finds itself on trial.

Where Does Bordeaux Sit?

The world of fine wine has widened and so have buyers’ distractions. Meanwhile the calendar only has so many nights at the dinner table. Burgundy, Champagne, Tuscany, Napa, and the Rhône all jostle for attention, often with stronger narratives of scarcity.

Against that backdrop, Bordeaux must fight harder to be heard, and en primeur is a narrow window to make its case. One chance a year to convince buyers that barrel futures still make sense — that committing early is rewarded with access, value, or at the very least, a story worth buying into.

And with shifting tastes, that’s no easy sell. Drinkability, immediacy, value — these are rising priorities. Some wines still sing within the classic EP model. Others struggle to stand out in the noise and might be better held back, released when they’re ready to drink.

What Bordeaux Needs

If there’s one takeaway from 2024, it’s that Bordeaux isn’t just contending with a tough market, it’s contending with shifting expectations. Customers want wines to drink, not just to store. They’re thinking in seasons, in meals, in moments. Not decades.

Price consciousness is non-negotiable. The days of automatic allocations and inflationary pricing are gone, at least for now. Customers are asking more questions, comparing across regions, and pressing pause where the value doesn’t stack up.

Accessibility matters, too. Stylistically, the 2024 vintage leans in the right direction — fresher, more defined, with a welcome return to classical proportions. But accessibility also means release strategy. Not every wine needs to debut en primeur. Sometimes, a little patience pays off.

Personality helps. The wines speak for themselves, but people still buy people. Estates that share their stories, that show a human side, tend to stick in the memory (and the cellar). In a crowded market, connection counts.

And finally, story. Bordeaux has a great one — centuries of it — but it needs retelling for a new generation. Less about classification and more about character. Less about “future icons” and more about what makes a wine worth opening next Tuesday night.

None of this is radical. But it is essential. Bordeaux doesn’t need reinvention. It just needs to read the room.