Thursday 7 May
This morning we have the Bernard Magrez wines: from the Graves, Pape-Clement Blanc and Rouge, and St-Emilion’s largest classified estate, Fombrauge.
Neal Martin’s scores are just out on vinous.com, and he’s pretty convinced of the quality of the vintage. ‘Twenty-five ranks amongst the great Bordeaux vintages. Its snow-capped peaks will be uttered in the same breath as legends gone by.’
Tomorrow is VE Day and France will be on holiday, but we expect next week to be busy with releases.
Wednesday 6 May
From Barsac today we have Coutet and Doisy-Daene, both top sweet performers in 2025. And from Margaux, we have Malescot St-Exupery, which this year unfortunately escaped Uncorked’s rigorous tasting schedule.
Tuesday 5 May
Released today, we have Uncorked favourite Grand Mayne. The vineyards at this historic St-Émilion property span higher clay-limestone soils (adjacent to Beau-Séjour Bécot) as well as pied de côte sandy-clay soils around the château. Owner Jean-Antoine Nony has been finessing the style of the wine he makes with the help of consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt, who came on board in 2024. There is greater infusion, gentler extraction, exclusively manual pump-overs, shorter macerations and better-integrated oak. The aim is freshness, purity, polished tannins, all of which beautifully characterise his 2025. A long-term replanting programme is aimed at returning the proportion of Cabernet Franc to what it was in the days of Jean-Antoine’s grandfather (35%) both for reasons of soil suitability and as a hedge against global warming. In 2025, the Cabernet Franc here overperformed, and represents a full 38% of this year’s vivid blend.
Also today, we have several releases from Sauternes and Barsac. Uncorked loved the drive and complexity behind Doisy-Vedrines, the savoury completeness of Guiraud and the focussed energy of La Tour Blanche. It’s worth noting that 2025 was a fabulous vintage for Sauternes as well as reds.
To the east of the town, on the limestone plateau, Laroque is one of St-Émilion’s very oldest properties. The vineyards are spread across pure Astéries limestone (as at Canon) and on red clay laid over limestone (as at Troplong-Mondot). The property was dormant for a large part of the twentieth century, before being brought back to life, and only recently being re-introduced to the en primeur market. The investments of the last decade have done great things here, and David Suire has fashioned a beautiful 2025.
Friday 1 May
France is closed for business today with the Labour Day holiday, so no Bordeaux releases. And of course we’ll be closed for the UK bank holiday on Monday. Back to business on Tuesday with a release close to Uncorked’s heart.
Thursday 30 April
This morning sees the release of perennial Uncorked favourite Batailley, and the 2025 is (yet) another success for owner Frédéric Castéja. It’s quintessential Pauillac, cool, clean and muscular. It opens on dark fruit, expands through layers of graphite and tobacco, and finishes on a gravelly note. That should be no surprise - the Batailley plateau sits on extremely deep gravel beds.
Recent vintages have seen Batailley adopt finer tannins and a little more gloss. Pruning has been adapted, yields have been reduced, and the introduction of a second wine (Lions de Batailley) has enabled more selection. In the cellar, the number of steel and cement vats has doubled (from 30 to 60) to enable much more precise vinification. Latterly the chateau has also adopted a relatively warm four-week post-fermentation maceration, to encourage more supple tannin extraction, while building body. It’s still quintessential Pauillac, it’s just more skilfully done than ever.
It’s also worth noting that, despite the greatness of the vintage, due to the phenomenally difficult market conditions, the Castéjas have released Batailley at its lowest price in over a decade. To our mind, that represents a considerable buying opportunity. Great vintages don’t come along with such keen pricing very often!
Wednesday 29 April
Pontet-Canet loves to kick off a Bordeaux en primeur campaign, and they’ve done it again, jumping in as the first major release. Their 2025 is a focussed, intense wine, and one of the first that woke us up to the fact that although 2025 was a hot year in the vineyards, the wines betray no sense of heat: they are cool and expressive.
Pontet-Canet has been one of the great innovators of the last twenty years in Bordeaux. It was one of the very first properties to switch to biodynamics (there still aren't a huge number who have), and horses are used to work the vineyard. The wine is raised partly in concrete amphorae and partly in barrel, with the aim being to achieve balance through a blend of reductive and oxidative ageing. The old vines at Pontet-Canet occupy excellent terroir next to Mouton-Rothschild, and it's always a wine that takes more time to come round.
Uncorked attended the UGC tastings in Bordeaux last week. There used to be more of a gap between the UGC tastings and the launch of an en primeur campaign, but just as growing seasons seem to start earlier in an era of global warming, so apparently do en primeur campaigns.