The campaign this year promises not only welcome price reductions, with rumours of a reset back to levels we haven’t seen since 2014 (and even 2008), but also some genuinely exciting wines, particularly for lovers of classically styled Bordeaux.
Before heading into the Growing Season, we have a few exciting developments for the Club. Firstly, the return of our much-loved En Primeur Credit Offer. Club Members and EP purchasers who pay for their Bordeaux 2024 promptly via Direct Debit enjoy 2% Credit to spend on our ready-to-drink wines (compatible with Cellar Plan Members' 10% discount).
Lastly, we have further excitement around Club Exclusives and Barrel Syndicates. In 2023 we crowdfunded three Club Barrels of Ducru-Beaucaillou, Beausejour-Becot and Suduiraut, and for Club Members this year we are hoping to have some more exciting surprises. Watch this space.
The campaign will be fast-paced, with the first wines expected to launch in just a couple of weeks. So buckle in… it’s going to be a fascinating one.
Growing Season
The headline here is that 2024 was a very wet vintage, especially during the autumn and winter months. This isn’t the story across the whole of Bordeaux - Pauillac for example experienced less rain than the 10-year average – but overall, if you were a vigneron in 2024, it was worth investing in a good raincoat…
A waterlogged winter filled the region’s reservoirs to the brim, welcome after an increasing number of drought-affected vintages (2018, 2020, 2022), while budburst in early April, with only isolated incidences of frost, got things off to a promising start. The onset of spring brought hail, and the earliest signs of what would become a season-long battle with mildew, only partially mitigated by generally cool evenings, which diminished the humidity that causes further spreading. Yields ended up being the lowest since 1991.
May was gloomy and cool, slowing growth and resulting in uneven flowering, especially for Merlot. But as summer finally arrived in late June, the mood shifted. Drier, sunnier conditions settled in through August and into September, bringing with them a welcome window for ripening, particularly beneficial for Cabernet, which was harvested in better conditions right up to mid-October.
The Wines
Success in 2024 was all about timing, precision, strict selection, and terroir, right down to the soils in your vineyard. In her conversation with Sarah Kemp, Jane Anson notes that gravel and certain types of clay are well-equipped to dealing with over-saturation – gravel soils naturally have excellent drainage, whilst some types of clay can hold more water, limiting the amount supplied the fruit. Limestone can also work well but there is a risk of austerity in the wine. Sand on the other hand drains exceptionally quickly and/or doesn't hold water, "allowing the water to go straight back up to the berries where they are going to swell", leading to dilution.
Naturally this means 2024 is another heterogeneous vintage. There will be plenty of surprises around, but conditions like these favour those top estates in the Medoc, St Emilion and Pomerol. As The Drinks Business' Bordeaux Correspondent Colin Hay declares, those chateaux which have “both the resources – human and financial – and above all the acumen to respond to its trials and tribulations have triumphed”.
The Reds
Both Colin Hay and Gavin Quinney in his much-loved annual Bordeaux Weather and Crop Report note that 2024 is a vintage where Merlot in particular struggled in places, with larger berries swollen by excessive water and a risk of dilution and uneven ripeness. In contrast, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc flourished in the drier, later ripening conditions, showing real promise.
Strict selection was essential, especially for Merlot, with top estates using everything from densitometric sorting to careful vineyard work to ensure quality. Elevated acidity brings freshness, though in some wines there may be a slight edge of austerity.
Stylistically there are a few points to consider about different vintage profiles and where 2024 fits into the picture:
- Warmer ‘solar’ years produce fruit with higher alcohol content (often 13.5-15.5%), phenolic and sugar ripeness, darker fruit notes.
- Cooler ‘classic’ years produce fruit with lower alcohol (often 12.0-14.0%), tarter / more acidic profiles with lower sugar ripeness and phenolics not fully ripened, redder fruit notes.
- A classic vintage in the 2020s feels like a warmer vintage in the 1980s/1990s
Modern winemaking can make delicious wines in even the trickiest of vintages.
There has been a critical and popular trend towards more ‘Parkerised’, rich and robust, high alcohol Bordeaux, which together with a series of solar vintages, has arguably normalised tastes around that style. - But many prefer the redder fruit and lower alcohol of modern winemaking in cooler years.
- Choices in winemaking, especially extraction levels, use of oak, treatment of stems, length of élevage, make a significant difference - maybe that’s the answer to the 2021 conundrum, which tasted accomplished during En Primeur but many of the wines are currently in an awkward phase, and 2017, which was largely written off but has evolved impressively.
- Bordeaux wines are nowadays built to be more fruit forward and drinkable earlier than in the past.
The Whites
You can ignore any caveats above here, as 2024 is shaping up to be a brilliant vintage for the dry and sweet whites. Harvested mainly in the first week of September under ideal conditions, the whites show outstanding aromatic lift, freshness, and poise. There were perfect conditions for noble rot too, so Sauternes and Barsac will be rich, complex and powerful.
The Market
It’s no secret that the Bordeaux market has been facing headwinds, including difficulty in maintaining, let alone improving on, release prices, a glut of recent vintages re-appearing on the secondary market, a reduced interest in Asia and Trump’s latest tariffs threatening the US market. However, even with a very small harvest, 2024 is still expected to see deep cuts in release pricing. Whispers suggest reductions of 20–30%+ compared to 2023, which was already 23% lower than 2022. This could bring prices in line with 2014 or even 2008.
That’s an opportunity. Both those vintages have subsequently delivered brilliant value and great wines, and if 2024 shows similar potential, this may be one of the most interesting propositions in years, with, at least, a select number of 4-star wines at 2-star prices.
Closing Thoughts
This will be a selective campaign. As always, we’ll only be recommending wines we truly believe in for your cellar. The full Honest Grapes Vintage Report will land in May, along with our usual side-by-side critical comparisons and producer insights. For now, keep your eyes peeled, as releases are just around the corner.