2024 – back to the essentials.

This year again the “en primeur week” started with an excellent report of Prof. Axel Marchal, University Professor at the Oenological Research Unit of the Institute of Vine and Wine. The report was not only high lightening the challenges of the vintages but also the positive aspects.

The year started with an exceptionally rainy winter with mild temperatures and little sunshine, which delayed bud break and limited the access to vine plots. Then a rapid early phenological development was significantly slowed down to cool and again wet weather from mid-April onwards. May was rainy and rather cool, lacking sunshine and resulting in a slow and irregular vine growth. Rain continued in June and caused a difficult flowering in the context of a high mildew threat. A fairly dry summer turned to a more positive side, but important water reserves in the soil led to a late and spaced-out version. The ripening period was from August onwards, before the sudden arrival of autumn in September. A spell of rain from September 20 disrupted the harvest schedule. However, in Sauternes, alternating dry and wet weather conditions were propitious to the onset of Botrytis cinerea and the concentration of the grapes.

Vintners had to react and so it is rather a vintner’s vintage than a terroir vintage, although a great terroir was very helpful to get excellence. In some moments of the tasting there was a reminder of the vintages in the 1980s and 1990s, which were lighter in alcohol as during the decades of the 2000s. But there is one big difference: the last three decades have seen a lot of positive changes in viticulture and vinification. Attention to the environment, harvest by smaller plots, extensive selection processes, a different approach on fermentation and maceration have led to upgraded precision, impressing elegance and in a lot of cases a very convincing persistence. This work has to be recompensated and therefore the ratings are not at the very top but on a quite upper level. It was a wise decision of a lot of Châteaux to put an accent on the purity of fruit rather than on massive extraction. Since a long time, alcohol levels have not been that low, although chaptalization has been used to be more precise in the fermentation process and get balanced wines. This « lighter style » has not to be a disadvantage. 2024 is not a great vintage but a vintage offering some great opportunities in a style of refinement and elegance. One could say we are back to the classic vintages with wines guaranteeing an excellent drinking pleasure. Interesting to observe, that the number of attributes used for the flavour profiles is lower than in previous years and is more focussed on fruit, floral components and aromatic herbs, complex spiciness and toasting components are less prominent. This might be caused by the lower extraction levels and the vintners focus on fruit promoting the varietal character. Some wonderful wines with stunning purity can be found in Sauternes and Barsac. Also, the dry white wines have generally performed better than the reds, although the aromatic profile of the different wines is much closer and uniform this year with an accent on citrus fruits and aromatic herbs.

How does Axel Marchal conclude his presentation: “It is clear that 2024 will not be remembered as an exceptional vintage for Bordeaux wines. Nevertheless, thanks to the considerable efforts undertaken in the vineyards and the technical progress that winegrowers now benefit from, the quality of the wines produced this year bears no comparison to the rainy vintages of the past. While it was obviously easier to make very good dry and sweet white wines, it would be a mistake to systematically overlook the red wines.”

Axel Marchal is right, a good number of high-quality wines can be found in 2024, one only has to look out for them.

Prowein was a busy fair but there was some time to taste some stunning wines from Italy.

Shortly before the primeurs, a new wine was tasted “on arrivage”.

Fair and Green e. V. strives for a society in which sustainable business practices are taken for granted and future generations will find the world in a better state. The associations wants companies to act sustainably themselves and make their contribution to sustainable developments by offering sustainable products. A tasting of member's wines showed the impressing skills of German vintners and presented great wines of the vintage 2014.

The Rheingau Gourmet Festival welcomed Château Léoville Las Cases. Three events featured 30 different wines of this famous estate from Saint-Juien.

Vinexpo Paris offered some new tasting experiences, wines "en arrivage" and some great classics.

Château Saint-Georges at Saint-Georges-Saint-Emilion has three new wines made as “Vin de France”. Three wines which are supposed to be great fun for the summer time.

Today’s arrivage came from the southern Rhône valley. Domaine de la Vieille Julienne presents a very convincing collection, both white and red. 2022 proves to be a very successful vintage for this biodynamic estate.

The 2022 Bordeaux arrivage wines were tasted during January 2025.

The 2022 Bordeaux arrivage wines were tasted during January 2025.

In 2006 some sommeliers were invited to prepare the jubilee tasting of the auction at Kloster Eberbach. This first encounter resulted in a tradition which has seen the 19th edition on January 26th, 2025. There were some amazing wines to be discovered.

Claire Janoueix & Audouin d’Aboville are the young couple who is responsible for the renaissance of Château de Panisseau in Bergerac. This medieval castle is at the foothill of 47ha of vines planted with the classic grape varieties of the south-west, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Malbec for the reds, Semillon, Sauvignon and Muscadelle for the whites. The new collection arrived just for the new year and shows the positive evolution of the winemaking since the young couple took over.