Bordeaux’s 2024 vintage has shown a clear contrast between the Left and Right Banks, with the Right Bank offering wines that were notably easier to evaluate due to their consistent quality. While some Left Bank wines displayed uneven characteristics, the wines from the Right Bank, particularly Pomerol, stood out for their refined structure and elegance.
Pomerol emerged as the standout region for the 2024 vintage, with wines from Saint-Émilion’s gravel areas also deserving attention. The warmer terroirs of Pomerol ensured that Merlot reached optimal ripeness, a key factor not seen as distinctly in other regions. The cool evenings during July and August helped preserve fresh acidity and delicate aromas, resulting in wines that exhibited long, elegant finishes and lively, perfumed fruit. Most wines from this region had alcohol levels below 13.5%, a characteristic that added to their finesse.
Among the top performers in Pomerol were the renowned Petrus and Le Pin. Both estates, known for their small-scale operations and ability to harvest swiftly and selectively, produced exceptional wines. The 2024 wines from these two producers, made entirely from Merlot, offered a fascinating contrast. Le Pin, with its gravel soils, produced a leaner, more refined wine with well-defined fruit and graphite notes. In contrast, Petrus maintained its characteristic richness with deep, black fruit flavors. While both wines were of outstanding quality, the choice between them largely came down to style, with Le Pin’s elegance being slightly preferred.
Château L’Eglise-Clinet, owned by the Durantou family, presented another impressive Merlot-dominated wine, blending 90% Merlot with 10% Cabernet Franc. This wine stood out for its precision, length, and elegant perfumes, challenging both Petrus and Le Pin as one of the top wines of the vintage.
The increased prominence of Cabernet Franc in Right Bank wines was also a notable trend in 2024. The early-ripening variety, which contributed excellent acidity and aromatic qualities, played a crucial role in several standout wines. One notable example was Château Lafleur, where 55% of the blend consisted of Cabernet Franc (locally known as Bouchet), resulting in a wine with vibrant dark fruit and well-defined damson perfumes, alongside a finely structured graphite backbone.
At Vieux Château Certan, Alexandre Thienpont presented a wine that exemplified classic Bordeaux style. The predominantly Merlot blend, supported by 20% Cabernet Franc and 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, exhibited restrained density, a fine structure, and a long, dark-fruit finish. This wine was expected to mature beautifully over the next few years.
The Moueix family’s Château La Fleur-Petrus also impressed with its relatively new addition of 0.5% Petit Verdot to the Merlot-dominated blend. The wine opened slowly but revealed a vibrant, balanced profile with finely integrated oak and aromatic intensity, setting it apart from its more reserved sibling, Château Trotanoy.
On the downside, JP Moueix chose not to produce wines from several estates, including Château Lagrange, Château Lagrave, and Château Hosanna, in order to focus resources on their other properties.
Château Certan de May, another Moueix estate, stood out for its opulent, open palate with smooth tannins and mouthwatering black-cherry fruit. This wine demonstrated a modern, attractive style with plenty of aging potential.
Château Clinet, known for its inclusion of Cabernet Sauvignon, delivered wines with a pure cassis note, contributing to their freshness and focus. The wines from Domaine Delon’s Château Nenin, which featured 38% Cabernet Franc, displayed an uncharacteristic level of openness and perfumed richness. Additionally, the tiny Château Seraphine, from the Krajewski family, impressed with a dense yet harmonious Merlot wine that showcased aromatic purity and suppleness.
A notable value wine from Pomerol was Château Saint-Pierre, a small estate whose 2024 vintage showcased a rich, rounded core of dark fruit, signaling the estate’s noticeable improvement in recent years.
In Saint-Émilion, the 2024 wines mirrored some of the qualities of Pomerol, including lower alcohol levels, fresh acidity, and lifted aromas. Particularly noteworthy were the wines from the Graves sub-region, where gravel soils favored the growth of Cabernet varieties, contributing to their structure and elegance.
Château Cheval Blanc, known for its meticulous vineyard practices, produced a wine of immense precision, elegance, and structure. The 2024 vintage featured a blend of 48% Cabernet Franc and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon. To achieve its desired style, Cheval Blanc rejected 34% of the harvest, ensuring only the ripest berries were used in the final blend.
Château Figeac, Cheval Blanc’s neighbor, also produced an exceptional wine. With a blend of 28% Cabernet Franc and 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, Figeac’s wine was less dense but wonderfully harmonious, showing fresh fruit and a superbly persistent finish.
One of the surprises of the vintage was Jonathan Malthus’ Le Dôme, a small estate producing a pure Cabernet Franc wine that displayed elegant tannins and aromatic purity. This wine, grown on clay and limestone soils, exhibited a beautifully defined structure supported by fresh acidity.
Château Lassegue, under the guidance of winemaker Pierre Seillan, produced a remarkably precise and elegant wine in 2024. A blend of 49% Cabernet Franc, 45% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, this wine had far greater precision than in previous years, making it a potential great value if priced competitively.
Other notable Saint-Émilion wines included Château Angélus, Château Pavie, Château La Tertre-Rôtebouf, and Château Belaire-Monange. Angélus, with a blend of 40% Cabernet Franc and 60% Merlot, displayed elegant structure and fresh fruit. Pavie, known for its opulent fruit, combined freshness and aromatic purity with superb elegance.
As always, Château Valandraud and L’If, from the Thienpont family, produced wines of impressive concentration. Valandraud stood out for its rich density, while L’If exhibited a more refined structure with perfumed elegance.
A particularly charming surprise was the 2024 Château Bellevue, a 100% Merlot from a small parcel of old vines. While not the most intense wine from Saint-Émilion, it was elegant, balanced, and harmonious, showcasing pure red-plum fruit and a finely structured profile. If priced correctly, this wine could be a great find for collectors.
In conclusion, the 2024 vintage in Bordeaux’s Right Bank produced wines of exceptional elegance and refinement, with many drawing comparisons to the wines of the 1980s. While these wines are likely to be approachable in their youth, their fresh acidity and structure suggest they will continue to age gracefully for 15 to 20 years. The real question now lies in the pricing, with some estates, such as Angélus, already offering a significant discount compared to previous years. Hopefully, other producers will follow suit, making these outstanding wines more accessible to collectors and enthusiasts alike.
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