Bordeaux 2025 En Primeur – Highlights from the April 2026 Visits
musical wines
Bordeaux 2025 En Primeur – Highlights from the April 2026 Visits
(left-to-right scroll through a hundred-plus photos)
Our choices this year are the estates listed below, tasted over the course of two weeks of organised visits.
A perfect day of splendid weather and impeccable atmospheric pressure gave us the opportunity to visit some magnificent properties in Pomerol and Saint-Émilion.
Emotion guaranteed for the 2025 vintage!
On a sun-drenched morning, maestro Vauthier and his daughter received us for the first flight in the salons of Château Ausone, at the top of the village of Saint-Émilion.
A barrel of six « little bottles » ready to taste on the table overlooking the garden fired up our delight.
The gustatory target was « Annapurna-level »!
With the third wine — from the Haut-Simard estate, predominantly Cabernet Franc, guided by floral and fruity freshness as well as the modern graphite tension sought in a Loire-style nectar — I was won over.
Then, in a Merlot-dominant blend, La Clotte caught our attention for its structural amplitude, floating mysteriously within an attractively feminine aromatic dimension.
Finally, the Grand Seigneur Ausone delivers a silky blend of 65% Cab Franc, 30% Merlot, 5% Cab Sauv, aged 20 months in new barrels, where the airy chalky texture is tinged on the palate with dense fruits in subtle harmony with spiced flowers.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Ausone tasting — for its cosmopolitan rhythmic movement, its orchestration blending guitar and symphonic strings, its progressive and modern melody and its exultant sensual voice: anaiis Grupo Cosmo – B.P.E
At the north-eastern exit of the small UNESCO-listed town, we headed to Château Trotte Vieille (Domaines Borie Casteja) to taste 4 wines, among which the mineral richness with cranberry flavours scattered with liquorice notes leaves no doubt about Château du Domaine de l’Église — as does its Capucin shortly after.
La Dame de Trotte Vieille spins with elegance in the pellucid glass and delivers all of its floral, aromatic femininity of gallant iris.
The grand vin shapes its aristocracy in an imperial creaminess of concentrated dark fruits, refined into a rocky gustatory emotion.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Trotte Vieille tasting — for its orchestration and synth arrangements, its progressive and modern melody, its sonic adequacy:
Hector Plimmer – « Into Harmony (feat. Julia Biel) »
After a chorus of divinely matured côtes de bœuf at Clos de la Molénie with the team, we were expected at L’Évangile (Domaines Barons de Rothschild Lafite), where the delight of this single cru (86% Merlot, 13% Cab Franc, 1% Cab Sauv) — with its « jubilescent, » blueberry-laden, evanescent floral fruitiness — slides us with dazzling charm into the vast circular underground cellar of the property. As they told us on arrival: they had « a lucky hand » this year — place your bets, it’s a three-cushion billiard shot for the 2025 vintage!
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next L’Évangile tasting — for its Rhodes keyboard arrangements, its progressive and modern vitality, its resonance:
Matt Johnson – « Dance Of The Summer Rain »
At Vieux Château Certan, master Thienpont received us in the cellar for a well-calibrated bacchic swing, where rose and violet playfully « charleston » with blackberry, bigarreau cherry and ripe plum. The nectar, imperiously structured, is savoured like a sensual caress on the opalescent curves of the most offering feminine forms.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Vieux Château Certan tasting — for its zippy brass keyboard arrangements, its swaying hip-hop vitality, its reflection:
Harrison Jaleel Shaw – « _You hate Jazz__ »
After a flurry of bends in the road, we arrived at La Fleur — now classified as Vin de France, asserting its deliberate modernism within the very conservative landscape of the Pomerol appellation.
The 6 wines presented — 4 reds and 2 whites with vibrant contemporary labels — follow on brilliantly from our packed schedule. We were particularly captivated by Les Pensées (67% Merlot, 33% Cab Franc, 3,000 bottles only) and its ample tannic structure bathed in blackberry and white pepper raspberry. Then Lafleur (49% Merlot, 51% Cab Franc) sent us into orbit with its airy floral expression, its great mineral sensation echoing on the palate, and its fruity, saline luminescence.
In white, the extra cuvée of Sauvignons, Les Champs Libres, atomised us with a fine, radiant « Sancerre-style » sonata where bitter orange peel meets exotic notes.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next La Fleur tasting — for its sunny brass orchestration, its welcoming and free tonicity, its striking interaction between the well-known Pomerol and its new Vin de France direction, a musical theme brilliantly revisited:
Hot 8 Brass Band – « Ain’t No Sunshine »
We return to the heights of Saint-Émilion for the annual appointment with François Mitjavile, to discover a few sips of his galvanising classic works such as the grand Tertre Roteboeuf, faithful to its tradition of old-style vinification in new barrels of the unique Radoux brand. The magic from vintage to vintage reigns over this soothing estate. The red and black fruit amplitude, combined with the fine harmonious oak, signs the unwavering personality of a winemaker at the zenith of his achievements.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Tertre Roteboeuf tasting — for its « harped » orchestration, its lascivious voice, its perfect note:
Amanda Whiting Harp & Alice Russell – « What Is It We Need »
Three days later, we were received once again in fine weather, in the sacristy-like salons of La Mission Haut-Brion, where 7 wines of excellence — 4 reds and 3 whites — awaited us in monastic silence.
The glass bearing La Chapelle, engraved with the Mission’s effigy, calls me to sip, and the olfactory sensation — far from honeyed — reveals a dynamic Cabernet Sauvignon, raspberry-fruited, opulent in form, chocolatey and structured, combined with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and a touch of Petit Verdot.
Then Clarence Haut-Brion (predominantly Merlot, 28% Cab Sauv, 5% Cab Franc) also shows its deep purple density, with a nose of concentrated, well-ripened dark fruits (blueberries, morello cherries, blackberries), chocolatey with a chalky finish.
Château La Mission Haut-Brion (58% Merlot, 38% Cab Sauv, Cab Franc) immediately reveals a gallant iris, dark fruits, mocha — then, like a shooting star, its fresh mineral gustatory amplitude « stratospherises » our appetite.
Château Haut-Brion (62% Merlot, 26% Cab Sauv, 12% Cab Franc) is also deeply coloured, more discreet on the nose with refined red fruits, a phenomenal voluptuousness on the palate akin to a phantasmagorical nude woman of colour.
La Clarté Haut-Brion, predominantly Sémillon at a low yield of 23 hl/ha, declares its white peach lashed with apricot and acacia on the nose as well as on the youthful palate, clocking in at 14° this year.
La Mission Haut-Brion white, with shimmering reflections, explodes our senses with a wild rock of mango, vine peach, Williams pear, Victoria pineapple and well-ripened citrus, crowned by a bitterness striped with a finish on date. To be enjoyed in its youth.
Château Haut-Brion white remains firmer and more discreet for now but promises its eruption to join its little monk from La Mission.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Haut-Brion tasting — for its delicate arrangements, its captivating and sensual voice, its consonance:
Barney Keen – « Today Is Not The Day »
Finally, the Union des Grands Crus Bordelais opens the grand ball at H14, and this 2025 vintage makes quite an impression — a summary tasting pulverised my palate with wines such as Clos Fourtet, Château Canon, Berliquet in St-Em, Clinet in Pomerol, Clos Jaugueyron off-salon for Demeter, Brane-Cantenac, Angludet, the renaissance of Marquis de Terme and Desmirail, Cantemerle (whose new cellar is glorious), Rauzan-Ségla in Margaux and Bellegrave in Pauillac!
But the evening before at the Bourse Maritime, the Pessac-Léognan wines had seriously set the clock right with a colourful and festive event. A plethora of great Bacchic files with food-and-wine pairings, chefs present in person, unexpected bottle formats, phantasmagoric vintages, a labyrinth of culinary creations where pellucid glasses ricocheted, ready for gargantuesque filling with red or white nectars. La Mission Haut-Brion 2010 red in magnums in feminine service rubbed shoulders with the white Couhins-Lurton 1993 served in a decanter by Jacques L., « El Presidente » of the association, with a most contemporary and youthful welcome.
Some new micro-estates in preview during the afternoon delighted my palate with plush, silky and ample reds for their first vintage — such as Clos Cabana and Clos Bon Air, ones to watch.
Châteaux Olivier, Malartic-Lagravière, Latour-Martillac, Haut-Bailly, Fieuzal, Bouscaut, Couhins, Couhins-Lurton and Luchey-Halde all produced excellent red and white wines — energetic and full-bodied, silky and well-tensioned on tasting.
This annual celebration grandly crowns a vintage with increasingly low — sometimes very low — yields (15 hl/ha) for some, such as Château Cheval Blanc, yet with undeniable aromatic and structural qualities, with many nectars showing fabulous, silky amplitude and volume on the palate. After tasting for two weeks, I have posted a great many here that moved me — though I haven’t tasted everything either; missing this year, for example, is the very romantic Montrose, or even Palmer, Margaux.
At the Association des Grands Crus Classés de Saint-Émilion at Château Dassault, in the company of Sylvie Cazes, Alain Moueix and Pierre Blois, I spent a sunny Sunday morning sharpening my palate with a breathtaking view over the vines and hillsides of Saint-Émilion. A selection of about forty well-bred, straight-laced crus with juicy tension — among my favourites: Châteaux Fonroque, Bellefont-Belcier, Clos de Sarpe, Haut Sarpe, Clos des Jacobins, Clos Dubreuil, de Pressac, La Confession, La Tour Figeac, Moulin du Cadet and the discovery of Montlisse with an extraordinary saline finish.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Montlisse tasting — for its convincing arrangements, its attractive voice, its resonance:
Georgie Sweet – « All That We Were »
The following day at the sumptuous Domaine de Chevalier, the Sauternes — Château d’Arche particularly soothing — and the Barsac accompanied the Pessac-Léognan appellation, where the sunshine and spring weather also augured well for the 2025 tastings, followed by a grand lunch in the verdant park at the rear of the château near the woods.
As always, the Bernard family had prepared an exceptional welcome and memorable bottles of every style, served generously and in optimal conditions — including extra coffee freshly ground on-site by L’Alchimiste, a killer selection of the world’s finest roasted coffee references.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Domaine de Chevalier tasting — for its pop orchestration, its timeless Fender bass, the echo of the estate’s beautiful wines and its welcome:
Soft Power – « Zeppelin »
A foray into the Médoc after this lunch on the tender grass, at the Union’s reception venue, the admirable Château Léoville-Barton, to taste the sparkling Saint-Julien 2025s, keeps our vigorous pace going.
We particularly noted the fiery, deep purple nectars of Branaire-Ducru, Lagrange, Talbot, Léoville-Poyferré, Langoa Barton and its larger sibling Léoville, but also those from Moulis such as Maucaillou and Poujeaux, and from Listrac such as the two Fourcas. All mentioned are creamy, dynamic, refined and ample.
Then, a little further on, Château Lynch-Bages in Pauillac — with its minimal geometric white and shuttered-concrete architectural décor, vast and airy — closes out the day.
Most of the wines presented are equally well-crafted for this vintage, with preferences for Beaumont in Cru Bourgeois Haut-Médoc, then within the Pauillac appellation, Clerc Millon, Lynch Moussas, d’Armailhac, Croizet-Bages, Duhart-Milon, Haut-Batailley, Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande, and the renaissance of Cos Labory in St-Estèphe, firmly on the up.
The next day, in homage to Michel Rolland, a morning at La Dominique to taste a few international gems from the Rolland & Associés oenologists — such as the sumptuous Tuscan reds from Monteverro, Il Pino di Biserno and Ornellaia 2023 Bolgheri. Well-crafted Californians such as St Super Dollarhide & Fairest Creature Three Bet in Napa Valley Cab Sauvignon 2023; from Spain, the red La Capilla Crianza 2022 in Ribera del Duero, and a totally incredible discovery in vibrant red velvety smoothness — Pago de Otazu from Navarre (Cab Sauvignon, Merlot, Tempranillo), a ballet of bigarreau cherry, blackberries and redcurrants; from Argentina, the excellent Malbec Val de Flores 2021 Mendoza, and on departing, two lush Pomerol en primeur — Feytit Clinet & La Clémence — two Lalande-de-Pomerol, L’Ambroisie & Lurra, as well as La Fleur Cardinale and Croix de Labrie in St-Em.
At Le Cercle, Château Montlabert with its enchanting recent architecture — a quick zigzag to test a few delights such as Châteaux Pénin by Carteyron in Bordeaux Supérieur, Maillet by Mozes Berthon Pomerol, etc.
Lunch at the legendary Château Valandraud in the phantasmagorical arched cellars revives us with an impeccable and well-structured menu. The en primeur tasting simultaneously runs through the entire Murielle and Jean-Luc Thunevin range, where the promising, phosphorescent grand vin of aromatic complexity resonates with all the international guests in Olympic form.
Hot on its heels, Olivier Berrouet at Pétrus-Pomerol twists us with Merlot energy through his new, « carabinesque » vintage of brazen flowers, wayward truffle and libertine red fruits.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Pétrus tasting — for its jaillissant spiritual orchestration, its vibraphone rhythmic cadence, its fantastic ride:
The Circling Sun – « Constellation »
Château Figeac – St-Em, in its usual one-third blend of the three traditional varieties, slips us its 2025 insolence in one dense, fresh, darting red mouthful.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Figeac tasting — for its bold and futuristic arrangements, its rhythmic firmness, its takeoff:
GoGo Penguin – « What We Are and What We Are Meant to Be »
Next door, Cheval Blanc 2025 – St-Em receives us alongside Cheval des Andes 2023 from Argentina and Quinault l’Enclos 2025 – St-Em, all three radiant and poetic in their fruity panache.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Cheval Blanc tasting — for its bossa nova arrangements, its Brazilian sunshine, its confidant:
Dom Salvador, Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad – « Não Podermos O Amar Para »
At the summit of the village, the majestic Château Troplong Mondot – St-Em and its two cuvées delight my rapacious palate with vitality and intemperant resonance — 100% Merlot as well as a tauter and more complex blend.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Troplong Mondot tasting — for its orbit-launching arrangements, its torrid Fender bass, its canvas:
Azymuth – « Fantasy ’82 »
Heading towards Bordeaux, La Conseillante – Pomerol finalises the day with one red sip to perfect the gustatory tonality of fresh and desirable sanctity.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next La Conseillante tasting — for its fascinating brass orchestration, its sustained rhythm, its bewitching voices, its mix:
New Regency Orchestra – « Para Los Papines (Momoko Gill Remix) »
The following day, direction Médoc and the Pauillac appellation, for a visit to Château Pontet-Canet — a grand 81-hectare biodynamic terroir producing a supreme wine across many vintages. The blend of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot imagines the virtuoso creation of a red potion perfectly in tune with its terroir and the nature of the site. An on-site lunch in scorching weather reinforces the immense hospitality of the château, where the 2016 served with an open-air roasted picanha by the jovial Gueuleton team, followed by an insane cheese board and a gourmet coffee, topped off with a visit to the greatest Grande Champagne XO Cognacs — 1953 and 1929 for example — from the Tesseron family owners, launches us into orbit for the afternoon.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Pontet-Canet tasting — for its haunted orchestration, its dense and « pianoed » rhythm, its sulphurous voices, its pitch:
Sault – « Set Your Spirit Free »
But just before, on the road, a good hour’s stop at Château Latour prepared our palates for biodynamics with an aristocratic ensemble of 6 reds of extreme finesse: the Pauillac, Les Forts de Latour and Latour 2025 cuvées, then in parallel ricocheting the confirmed deliverable 2021, 2020 and 2019. A fantastic aromatic and energising bolero whose thunderously vehement gustatory ballistics conquered us most agreeably.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Latour tasting — for its deep tenor sax, its insane rhythmic, its cinematic arrangements, its haunted voices, its union:
Collettivo Immaginario – « Vento Eterno »
In Pauillac, at Château Duhart-Milon, an incandescent tasting of the immense Lafite Rothschild 2025 red continues the phantasmagorical day alongside Les Carruades, confirming the indecency. A fusion of graphite-tinged red and dark fruits underscores the airy and ample sensation on the palate in an infinite length.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Lafite Rothschild tasting — for its energetic arrangements, its darting rhythm, its piercing brass, its cadence:
Stereolab – « Immortal Hands »
In the Saint-Estèphe appellation, the unmissable, thoroughbred wines of Cos d’Estournel unfold a reinvigorating series in white and red, paired with a Cos Labory refreshed as never before since it entered the sphere of the remarkable French businessman Michel Reybier.
Les Pagodes blanc blazes with exotic fruits, fennel notes and citrus, in a modern symphonic tension worthy of a Maurice Béjart choreography.
The grand blanc possesses an additional, shivering musky spirituality with a saline finish and white pepper notes.
Les Pagodes rouge flutters with raspberry and eucalyptus, reflecting the innocence of a « Scarlattian » sonata.
The grand Cos rouge excels in sensorial amplitude of liquorice-laced dark fruits, incised with pencil-line curves in the impressionist image of « Peace Piece, » improvised in 1958 by the great American pianist Bill Evans as a solo.
But the 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Cos d’Estournel tasting — for its magical piano, its sumptuous sustained double bass, its effervescent pressing rhythm, its divine feminine voice, its new « Nina Simone »:
Brittany Davis – « Amid the Blackout of the Night »
Next, Calon Ségur reveals its trio: Capbern, Le Marquis and the grand vin.
From the outset, the first — very approachable — juggles marvellously with its dark fruit robe and menthol notes on a scintillating spiral of black pepper. The second echoes the first with added amplitude around cedar wood. The grand vin, a blend of 4 traditional varieties, more complex, sports the acrobatics of a handful of redcurrants and blueberries in a smoky, chocolatey and « kirsch-laced » finesse, with a taut mineral appetite on the palate.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Calon Ségur tasting — for its scintillating arrangements, its plucked Fender bass, its airy synth keyboards, its finely crafted exotic rhythm, its dynamic score: Azymuth – « Andaraí »
To close these two lively weeks of olfactory and gustatory emotion, an exceptional morning at Château Bélair-Monange Premier Grand Cru Classé to taste no fewer than 13 cuvées from 2025 in monastic silence, overlooking the grandiose cellars of Jean-Pierre Moueix.
On the menu: 3 excellent Saint-Émilion Grand Cru — Peymouton, La Serre, Clos St-Martin — in a creamy match bursting with menthol-laced dark fruits, one with waxy notes, another of cocoa, or cigars.
Then the magical flight of Pomerol chirps with desire to be tasted: L’Hospitalet de Gazin, Lagrange, Lafleur-Gazin, Bourgneuf, Latour à Pomerol, Certan de May, Hosanna, La Fleur-Pétrus, Trotanoy — all in a magnetic refinement, with thrilling acrobatics of truffle, mocha, smoke, ash or burst of peony and violet, whose amplitude for some surpasses all altitude; the staggering volume on the palate gradually satisfies every Bacchic craving.
Bélair-Monange torpedoes with unspeakable living fragrances, touching in their lyricism at resinous and carnal intuition, evoking a complexity twinned with the architectural site imagined by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron following its deep history — between chalky limestone eroded drawings, acrobatics in decorative light concrete vaulting with esoteric seizures, building the captivating atmosphere a verst from the Tour du Roy or three from the Menhir de Peyrefitte. Grand art indeed to finalise the orchestration of my visits to my favourite nectars in our unique and flavoursome Bordeaux region.
The 2025 vinyl track suggested for the next Bélair-Monange tasting — for its expert jazz arrangements, its gripping tenor sax, its romantic violin, its already award-winning piano score and my deep final emotion from this enriching annual adventure:
SINSUKE FUJIEDA GROUP – « Silent Night »
Hasta luego amigos!
And for all the other wines, here is the universal:
Silentjay – Eternal Internal Peace – 2025
