Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pichon Lalande, L’If, Canon, VCC

This week has seen the closing act of the 2024 Bordeaux en primeur campaign, with almost all wines now released. It has been a campaign full of great values, with many wines at their cheapest release price in a decade. 2024 was a tricky vintage that left chateaux rushing to get teams out into the vineyards at the right time. But those who got it right – and most good properties did – made lovely wines. Looking back a decade, 2013 and 2014 were also tricky vintages, but wines from those years are drinking very nicely now; what’s more, winemaking techniques and technology have come a long way since then. Stash away some good value 2024s now, and you’ll be well-rewarded down the line. 

From the left bank this week, we had two greats of Pauillac. Grand-Puy-Lacoste lies unchanged in size and location since the 1855 classification, with the vineyards on a single plot on the deep gravel soils around the chateau. The 2024 is a lovely, serious wine, textbook well-made claret full of dark fruit, cedar and tobacco. Pichon Lalande is always a wine of massive range that takes time to come around, but the smoky suggestion of bacon, wet rock and black fruit in the 2024 hints at great things to come.

On the right bank, the purity of fruit in 2024 L'If is outstanding; it comes with the aromatic signature of a streak of overperforming Cabernet Franc in the blend. After ten years of restructuring and replanting, and the growing maturity of the vines, owner Jacques Thienpont is delighted with the way L'If is coming into its own. Also from St-Emilion, super-classy St-Emilion Canon is a dramatically fine wine that marries concentration and freshness. And from Pomerol, on vineyards between Petrus and Le Pin, comes Vieux Chateau Certan. It is always a star in any Bordeaux en primeur campaign, and the sublime 2024 has mellow core of fruit revealed by some very fine tannin management. It is released at £708/6, which is a whopping 36% discount on the 2023. /NT

Read our full vintage report here. 
Keep abreast of latest Bordeaux releases and read wine profiles here.