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Wine and spirits masterpieces to your doorstep
■ An En-Primeur wine at Bordeaux is a wine still maturing, offered for sale and available for delivery 2 years later. For example, the 2023 vintage is offered for sale from May 2024 and will be available for delivery in the first half of 2026.
■ Acquire exceptional wines and Rares at preferential prices
■ Choose bottle format : Bottle, Magnum, Imperial, Jeroboam packaged in original wooden cases.
■ Be certain of the wines' origin, since they come directly from Castles.
■ The En-Primeur campaign is launched at the end of April and beginning of May, after tastings by professionals. Each Castles offers its wine to traders, who in turn offer them to their professional or private customers. Each Castles decides when to market its wine, so there is no fixed date.
■ Sign up for our alerts to be notified when wines go on sale
■ Place your orders as you go along, so you don't miss a thing (We'll group all your orders together before delivery, so you'll benefit from carriage-paid delivery (300€ in Europe) in accordance with our general terms of delivery)
■ Buy your primeur wines from PREMIUM GRANDS CRUS, and you can be sure of delivery in 2 years, as we are a subsidiary of a Bordeaux wine merchant and, as such, a direct recipient of many Castles.
■ 15/05/24 : La Croix Ducru-Beaucaillou, Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, Château Prieuré-Lichine, Château Grand-Puy Ducasse, Château Meyney
■ 16/05/24 : Château Carbonnieux, Blason d'Issan, Château d'Issan, Château Sociando-Mallet, Clos Haut-Peyraguey, Château Fombrauge, Château La Tour Carnet, Château Pape Clément, Château Cos d'Estournel
■ 17/05/24 : Château Saint-Pierre, Château du Tertre, Les Hauts du Tertre, Château Suduiraut Vieilles Vignes, Château Suduiraut
■ 21/05/24 : Château Beychevelle, Domaine de Chevalier, Château Haut-Bages Libéral, Château La Dominique
■ 22/05/24 : Château Marquis de Terme, Château La Mondotte, Clos de l'Oratoire, Château d'Aiguilhe, Château Canon La Gaffelière, Château Poujeaux
■ 23/05/24 : Château La Gaffelière, Château Larrivet Haut-Brion, Château Cantenac Brown, Les Fiefs de Lagrange, Château Lagrange, Château Dassault
■ 24/05/24 : Haut-Médoc Giscours, Château Giscours, Château Laroque, Château Bellefont-Belcier, Château Tour Saint Christophe
■ (EN) James Suckling: EN PRIMEUR 2023 (PART I): A RETURN TO BORDEAUX
■ (FR) The 2023 vintage in Bordeaux by the Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences of the University of Bordeaux
■ (EN) Drink Business : Bordeaux 2023 vintage report part I: quality and quantity together, for once
Vintages come and go, but they're never the same. The Bordeaux terroir has proven this once again. After a rather sunny and homogeneous 2022 vintage, it's a more contrasted 2023 vintage that appears before us today.
The story begins with a late winter with little sunshine and temperatures close to seasonal norms, leading to late budburst. The spring that followed alternated between mild and cool weather, leading to uneven vine development. This is also when mildew begins to appear. More or less virulent depending on the location, it was to be the cause of heterogeneous yields. The warm, dry, sunny month of May enabled rapid, even flowering, without coulure or millerandage. Then came summer, the most complicated period to manage. High rainfall severely limited the water stress necessary for the vines to function properly. The berries obtained during fruit set are relatively large and numerous. Véraison started late, due to a lack of sunshine, and lasted for almost a month, as vegetative growth was still strong, thanks to the absence of water stress. The rather scorching second half of August finally allowed ripening to get underway, which then proceeded efficiently.
The white grapes will be harvested relatively early, in order to maintain freshness. The weather conditions and late water stress will have enabled us to harvest very aromatic berries with good acidity, essential prerequisites for making great white wines.
As for the reds, the trends are more divergent. Globally, the Merlot harvest begins in early September. These are fruity without being jammy, gourmand and full-bodied, reflecting the terroir in which they are planted. The Cabernet Francs are delicate and reach a good level of ripeness. As far as Cabernet Sauvignon is concerned, there are two schools of thought this year. Those who harvested before September 20, when heavy storms were forecast, and those who harvested afterwards. The grapes that were able to reach full ripeness thanks to the fine days following the storms, which were less abundant than forecast, are structured, fruity without a vegetal aroma, racy and possess fine tannins.
As for Sauternes, weather conditions in 2023 were much more favorable than in 2022. Botritys Cinerea, the fungus responsible for noble rot, took hold much more quickly on ripe, healthy grapes, resulting in magnificent sugar concentration. The resulting musts are rich in sugar, but still managed to retain a nice acidity thanks to the early harvest.
If the vintage was complicated in its elaboration, it appears on tasting to be a great success. Exceptional for the whites and sweet wines, it leaves more room for terroir to express itself in the reds. In a rather modern style, it expresses freshness and fruit with alcohol levels that remain reasonable compared to recent years.
April 2024, Marie (oenologist)
