Beau-Séjour Bécot, Figeac, L'If, Montrose, Tronquoy, Troplong, VCC
They saved the best for last. With every wine of the campaign now released (every wine, bar one: answers on a postcard, please) this was the last full week of the 2023 Bordeaux en primeur campaign. It has been a week of big names and strong contenders, and the large majority were on the right bank. Perhaps our favourite of all was Pomerol's Vieux Château Certan. Admirably sited between Petrus and Le Pin, with vines aged between 20-80 years (as against the Pomerol average of 30), it lives up to the 'old' in its name. Father-and-son team of Alexandre and Guillaume Thienpont take exquisite care over both vineyards and winemaking, and the result is one of the profound wines of the vintage.
St-Émilion's L`If was founded by a different Thienpont. Jacques Thienpont is the man behind Pomerol's Le Pin, and the hard work his team have put in since L'If's first vintage in 2011 is showing fabulous results; 'L'If has more of a sense of identity than ever,' Jacques told us. Having tasted, we couldn't agree more. Also in St-Émilion, Juliette Bécot has been working hard to make a good wine even better: Beau-Séjour Bécot is on a roll, showing an ever more seamless, elegant style. And on the windy top of St-Émilion's limestone plateau, Aymeric de Gironde has transformed Troplong Mondot for the better since his arrival in 2017; where once this was a heavy wine, now it is vivid, lifted and supple. Today also saw the release of Pomerol's La Conseillante, and from St-Émilion, a stunning Figeac.
The final big name from the Médoc was many commentator's top pick for wine of the vintage: Montrose. For the first time ever, Montrose was made exclusively from the historic core of the estate, the gravelly Terrasse IV that passes in front of the chateau. Dame de Montrose is a highly distinguished second wine. And from the same stable, St-Estèphe property Tronquoy benefits from the full depth of Montrose winemaking expertise. There aren't many wines that score so highly at this pricepoint. Blanc de Tronquoy makes its first appearance as an primeur wine, proving (again) that this is also a great vintage for Bordeaux Blanc. /NT
Read the full vintage report here
