We will be in Bordeaux next week to visit the châteaux and taste several hundred wines from the 2025 vintage. The first en primeur releases are likely to follow soon afterwards, and we will post them here, as they appear.

In the meantime, discussions with our contacts in Bordeaux and an initial tasting in London suggest to us that 2025 may prove to be one of the most successful recent vintages. It is still very early, of course, but the signs are highly encouraging, and there is already quiet confidence that this could be another excellent year ending in ‘5’, following in the footsteps of 2005 and 2015.

What makes this all the more impressive is that Bordeaux experienced a notably hot, dry summer, with prolonged heat and drought testing the vines throughout much of the season. Yet the early wines appear to have retained remarkable freshness and definition. Reports from the first tastings describe reds with expressive aromatics, ripe tannins, bright acidity and excellent purity of fruit, all confirmed by our own initial tastings. These are not wines of excess or heaviness. Rather, they seem to combine concentration with energy, and structure with balance.

Stylistically, 2025 is already being compared as a vintage with something of the shape and classicism of 2016 and 2020, though with a brightness and juiciness that some tasters find especially appealing. Terroir is an important factor, with wines from clay soils showing more breadth and flesh, while those from limestone sites seem more direct, refined and linear. Cabernet-based wines, in particular, are said to be relatively compact at this early stage, suggesting they may be especially interesting to follow during élevage.

The growing season began very early. A mild winter encouraged budbreak well ahead of the norm, and flowering was both early and notably even. From there, the growing cycle continued at speed, ultimately leading to one of the earliest harvests in recent years. Summer heat then became the defining feature. June was exceptionally warm, while August brought repeated spikes above 35°C, with some vineyards recording extreme highs. Rainfall was limited for much of the season, and drought became severe in certain sectors, especially on free-draining gravel and sandy soils. By contrast, clay-limestone terroirs appear to have coped particularly well.

Happily, rain arrived at a crucial moment towards the end of August and into September, relieving hydric stress and allowing for a steady ripening period. This appears to have helped preserve moderate alcohol levels, as well as the freshness and balance now being noted in the wines. Another advantage of the dry conditions was very low disease pressure, with far less mildew than in recent vintages and little frost damage to speak of.

The principal issue in 2025 is quantity. Yields are expected to be significantly down across Bordeaux, with many estates reporting very small crops. That will present economic challenges, but it also helps in explaining the concentration and intensity seen in the best early samples. 

The preceding vintage was also much reduced in size, and in his excellent and informative annual vintage report for Jancisrobinson.com, Gavin Quinney points out the wider trend in the region, with fewer than 300 million litres of Bordeaux produced in the last two vintages, compared with an average of 650 million litres per year in the late '90s. 

The number of producers and the area of vines has also fallen drastically.  For many years, when talking about Bordeaux, we have confidently said 'there are over 14,000 individual producers', but reading Quinney's report, we were shocked to find this has fallen to around 5,000.  20,000 hectares of vines have been grubbed up over the last two decades, equivalent to about two thirds of the area of the Côte d'Or!  Much of this is accounted for by reductions in low-quality commercial wines, but Quinney also shows how yields across many of the top communes are down on their 20-year averages:  37% in St-Julien, 21% for Pomerol, 29% for Margaux, and 27% in Pauillac.  To emphasise the point, he says:

"It’s extraordinary to think that for the excellent 2016 harvest, Bordeaux produced twice as much wine as it did in 2025." - Gavin Quinney, Bordeaux 2025 weather and crop report, for Jancisrobinson.com, Apr '25

Yields aside, we are looking forward to our visit to Bordeaux and to tasting more widely.  On early evidence, the 2025 vintage looks set to be one of real distinction: ripe but not overblown, concentrated yet fresh, and marked by purity, precision and balance rather than sheer weight. We look forward to reporting back in due course.

VIEW OUR FULL LIST OF RELEASED WINES BELOW.  YOU CAN ALSO VIEW OUR PRE-RELEASE AND RELEASE OFFERS HERE, WITH MORE DETAILS ON EACH CHATEAU.