En Primeur Bordeaux 2023

The 2023 Blanc de Lynch-Bages, just bottled a week before this tasting, is terrific. Bright citrus peel, dried flowers, almond, lime and crushed rocks lend quite a bit of nuance. A dollop of Muscadelle adds tropical flair without overpowering the balance. This is very nicely proportioned.

Score: 92 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024-2029

The 2023 Blanc de Lynch-Bages has a fresh, orchard-fruit-scented bouquet, maybe a bit constrained since it was only bottled two weeks prior to my visit. The palate is well balanced with more complexity than the aromatics at the moment—pear and white peach, with almond shavings toward the finish. Fine.

Score: 87 - 89 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2024-2028

The 2023 Carbonnieux Blanc is bright, chiseled and full of Sauvignon Blanc character. I find it a bit austere in feel, though. It lacks just that little bit of mid-palate texture that could take it to the next level.

Score: 87 - 88 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2030

A blend of 65% Sauvignon Blanc and 35% Sémillon, the 2023 Carbonnieux Blanc exhibits elegant aromas of pear, white peach, spring flowers and herbs, followed by a medium-bodied, satiny and long texture enhanced by bright acids and a lively mid-palate. It concludes with a long, delicate, mouthwateringly mordant finish, making it a classic white wine from this estate. - Tasted by Yohan Castaing

Score: 90 - 92 William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com

The 2023 La Clarté de Haut-Brion is the second white wine from La Mission and Haut-Brion. It offers terrific cut and focus. Citrus peel, white flowers, mint, crushed rocks, white pepper and a touch of reduction lend notable energy to this airy, sculpted dry white. Time in the glass reveals its lovely mid-palate texture, rounding things out. The 2023 is a fine Clarté.

Score: 90 - 92 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2033

Effortless, well balanced, white peach, juicy pear, delicious, sculpted and extremely easy to love. 3.2ph, 40% new oak. A test with shade cloths to provide cover for the berries on a small part of the white vineyard is underway, as the team under Jean-Philippe Delmas reacts to the changing conditions.

Score: 93 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2025-2035

The 2023 Cos d'Estournel Blanc is quite powerful and not especially aromatic today. At this stage, it is mostly the wine's body that makes an impression. The 2023 has good depth, but it is clearly not expressive today. It will be interesting to see what time brings.

Score: 91 - 93 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2025-2033

Green gold, well balanced, slate and pummice stone, rises through the palate from the first sip, lemongrass and lime, showing structure, depth, purity and sculpted citrus and sage. Excellent concentrated flavours, steely and mouthwatering, gets the balance exactly right between steel and flesh. 7% new oak (with barrels used only for the Sémillon). Harvest September 5 to 15. 10ha of white for the Estournel wines, 18 years on from its first vintage in 2005.

Score: 95 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2025-2038

The 2023 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc is one of the best dry whites of the year. Creamy and expansive, with terrific brightness, this exudes balance. Citrus confit, white pepper, mint, almond, pear and crushed rocks are some of the notes that build as the 2023 shows off its pedigree. I expect it will offer exceptional drinking for the next several decades. What else is new?

Score: 94 - 96 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2030-2053

A perfumed, complex bouquet of pear, white peach, hazelnuts, lime tree leaves and spring flowers prefaces the 2023 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc, a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and concentrated wine with racy acids, chalky, structuring dry extract, and a bright, vibrant profile that's rare in this vintage. This is a blend of 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Sémillon. - Tasted by Yohan Castaing

Score: 94 - 96 William Kelley, Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com

The 2023 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc was picked from August 28 to September 6 at 45hL/ha. It’s a blend of 70% Sauvignon Blanc and 30% Sémillon. This has wonderful purity on the nose, revealing scents of lime, green apple and crushed stone—one of the most precise I have encountered at this early stage. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity that lends this white Pessac-Léognan superb focus. There’s real intensity here, building with a sense of nascent confidence toward the mineral, almost slate-like finish. Very long and tender, this is a white Domaine de Chevalier from the top drawer.

Score: 94 - 96 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2028-2050