En Primeur Bordeaux 2024

The 2024 Angelus is very fine. It is the first vintage I have tasted that captures the newer approach at Angelus, one where the wines are not as extracted as in the past. Black cherry, plum, spice, new leather and menthol fill out the layers effortlessly. Here, too, the wine shows superb balance and real textural presence. The blend is 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc, with the Merlot being raised in 80% new oak and 20% once-filled barrels, and the Cabernet Franc in equal parts foudres and new smaller French oak barrels. The 2024 is mid-weight, classy and polished.

Score: 93 - 95 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2030-2054

Vivid plum colour, cedar and gunsmoke on the opening, skilfully and carefully put together, slim through the palate, but this is very clearly finessed, sleek, with quiet confidence, and pumice stone texture, cherry pit, squid ink, damson, rosebud, Cabernet Franc dominant in terms of its floral aromatics. 39hl/h yield, 40th anniversary vintage of Hubert de Böuard. This will for sure be ready to drink earlier than many vintages of Angélus, but it is well structured and will age for many years to come. No chaptilisation.

Score: 94 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2032-2046

The 2024 Ausone is pure sensuality. Intensely perfumed, pliant and silky on the palate, Ausone is haunting in its beauty. All the elements are so well balanced. Black cherry, lavender, mocha, espresso and exotic spice overtones all take shape in the glass. A wine of understated depth, the 2024 is impressive. Even in the early going, the 100% new oak is not at all evident, suggesting a wine with superior balance. The blend is 65% Cabernet Franc and 35% Merlot.

Score: 93 - 96 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2034-2054

The 2024 Ausone was picked between September 30 and October 5. It aged for 20 months in new French oak from 5 cooperages with malo in barrel as usual. There is slightly less Merlot in the blend due to mildew and coulure during the season. It has a very pure nose with black cherry, wild strawberry and a touch of cracked black pepper in the background. It just misses some of the profound complexity that a top Ausone can deliver. The palate is lovely, though, one of the most velvety 2024s that I tasted out of barrel. This is very harmonious with a focused and sustained finish. Whilst it doesn't quite have the horsepower or sheer ambition of a top-drawer Ausone, this is a success for the vintage simply because it is endowed with greater substance and persistence. There's presence here.

Score: 93 - 95 Neal Martin, Vinous.com Maturity: 2029-2055

The 2024 Beau-Séjour Bécot is deep, vivid and wonderfully alive. Dynamic and explosive, with striking inner perfume, Beau-Séjour Bécot is hauntingly beautiful. Blue/purplish fruit, lavender, menthol, licorice and rose petal soar out of the glass. Silky, refined tannins add to the wine's finesse. The increase of Cabernet Franc in the blend has added aromatic depth and textural elegance. There's a feeling of transparency here that is impossible to miss. Beau-Séjour Bécot has grown into one of the most distinctive wines in Bordeaux. Simply put, the 2024 is magnificent. That's all there is to it. Élevage is 55% in new oak, 15% in once-used barrels and the rest in 20HL casks. Tasted two times.

Score: 95 - 97 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2034-2054

Ruby red colour, vivid reflections, chewy character not just to the tannins but to the fruit, this is on the cool and slim side of the vintage, rose buds, peonies, but with real finesse and character, and excellent texture that keeps focus and interest through the palate, 90-100m on the plâteau, with underground limestone cellars down to 11m. Thomas Duclos consultant. Harvest 25 September to 4 October, latest harvest for Merlot in past 40 years, finishing up this grape on October 3. 3.4 pH 32 hl/ha. Cabernet Franc has been slowly increasing in the vineyard and in the blend of the 1st wine.

Score: 92 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2029-2040

The 2024 Canon is superb. One of the standouts of the vintage, the 2024 possesses striking mid-palate depth to match its vertical personality. Chalk, white pepper, mint, lavender, rose petal, slate and blue/purplish fruit all stain the palate. There's gorgeous depth and density here, and yet the 2024 remains a super-classic wine from the property. This is a real stunner. That's all there is to it. Tasted four times.

Score: 95 - 97 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2034-2059

This is a gorgeous Canon, with the austerity of limestone on full display, as you would expect in this vintage, but a creamy edge comes in through the mid palate. Clear precision, flesh pared from flesh, peony, peach pit, cherry stone, damson, blueberry, graphite, crayon, pumice, lemongrass, gunsmoke, this has tons of layers and waves of complexity, classical and balanced. 44hl/ha yield, organic certified. 3.35 pH. 49% new oak. Harvest 19 September to 9 October.

Score: 95 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2030-2042

The 2024 Cheval Blanc is a blend taken from 37 of the 45 parcels on the property. Dried flowers, mocha, rose petal and blood orange open nicely in the bouquet, leading to an understated mid-palate and a subtly persistent finish. Understated and nuanced, the 2024 offers lovely forward fruit in a soft, accessible style with no hard edges or awkward contours. All the elements are nicely put together, and yet there is no denying the fact that the 2024 is very light. Élevage will be everything here.

Score: 92 - 94 Antonio Galloni, Vinous.com Maturity: 2032-2054

Lilac, peony flowers, same family of aromatics as the Petit Cheval, same feeling of finesse and precision, but here everything has been taken up a notch, more density, more slate and pumice stone texture. Expect subtle complexity, a wine that steals up on you, impresses in its precision and clarity. July and August just 20mm of rain each month, well below 30 year average, 140mm rain in September, highest since 2006, harvest September 18 to October 3, 3.62ph (3.9ph in 2022), 37 plots out of the 56 in the vineyard are in here. 100% new oak for ageing. Looking forward to seeing after ageing, it has all the elements and bones in place for a totally delicious Cheval.

Score: 94 Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux Maturity: 2032-2050