Back to Bordeaux: The Highs, the Lows, and the Latour That Stole the Show

The Vintage Itself

I feel consumed. All that I’ve been and currently am is Bordeaux. From our in-store launch of the 2022 vintage to tasting the 2024 vintage in Bordeaux and now making buying decisions back home—it’s been nonstop. I was told this would be easy.

I guess that’s what the 2024 vintage in Bordeaux looks like: a whirlwind. While my head was spinning as I traveled around during the En Primeur program last year, I could at least know the wine across the board was delicious. This year, it’s another story.

Bordeaux felt familiar—the chateaux, the people, the travel. I had been there before. But what threw me off was the vintage itself. The past two campaigns were a dream. You could close your eyes, throw a dart at a price sheet, and probably hit a 95-point wine. Not this time. (If you can’t tell already, the campaign wasn’t great.)

We heard the whispers before we arrived. Trepidations about the vintage. Rain came at two of the worst times of the year, and growers were bracing the press and potential buyers for a tough campaign. Yet, leading up to En Primeur 2025, I remained hopeful, encouraged. Because a bad year in Bordeaux is still probably a good year anywhere else. Right?

Um, well, you see. Bordeaux makes a lot of wine. As much as anywhere else in the world. With so much land under vine, it's inevitable that something has to be good—and some wines definitely are. Just not nearly enough. I suspect most critics’ top lists will feature the same handful of wines. There’s an incredible disparity between regions and even within them. I can’t pinpoint one appellation as the champion of 2024. Champion might not even be the word. It feels more apt to say “didn’t do that bad.”

My Role in the Scheme of Things

Now, I’m pretty much a nobody in the Bordeaux landscape. I post reviews, buy some wine, attend events, and certainly try to learn all I can. Yet, at the end of the day my name is not synonymous with Bordeaux outside the walls of Vintage Mattituck. I’m not a name you’ll find quoted by chateauxs, négociants, or stores around the world. So when the real heavy-hitter reviewers are also handing out top scores in the 93–96 range? I feel seen. It feels validating because that’s exactly how I felt. Nothing this year truly blew me away into that upper, upper echelon of the wine world.

The Latour Standard

We tasted at every First Growth estate in Bordeaux. Chateau Margaux, Lafite-Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Latour, and Haut-Brion. These are supposed to be the best of the best, there’s no other expectation. (Though Latour, famously, doesn’t participate in En Primeur—they release on their own terms.) So while mostly everyone released their 2022 into the market this year, they just released their 2016. And I got a chance to try it.

It's remarkable. Utter perfection. Ripe cherry fruit, plenty of depth to it tied in with its age and earthy savory aromas and flavors. It's classic in style and delivers maximum enjoyment. It’s Pauillac and Bordeaux as a whole at its peak. I gave it 100 points. And you know who else did? Vinous, James Suckling, Jane Anson, The Wine Independent, Jeb Dunnuck, Decanter. 

So when you taste this and you compare every other wine that is basically barrel samples to it, nothing hits that spot the same way. Latour didn’t even show the 2024 vintage. Yikes. (They did preview the 2023s last year.)

Only one major reviewer, William Kelly of Wine Advocate, didn’t give Latour 2016 its full flowers—he gave it a 96+. He’s also the only major critic who hasn’t rated a 2024 wine above that. His highest score this year? A maybe 96. In 2023, he gave 22 wines a 96 or more. In 2022, it was 38.

And I don’t want to sound like I am bashing him. In fact we were quite similar on a lot of our top wines. We disagreed on a few, sure, but that’s the whole point. I don’t sell wine based on someone else’s score. I go. I taste. I trust what I experience, so you can too.

Where We Go From Here

So where does that leave us? There will still be big scores on wines. But I’m not sure I’ll be selling them to you as pre-arrivals. Prices are still very high, even without factoring any tariffs. And frankly, there’s plenty of wine available in better vintages that I can put out on the shelves. Wink, wink shop 2022 Bordeaux now.

I don’t think all of 2024 is an absolute wash. Many wines are very pretty with wonderful aromatic qualities. I’m already excited to revisit them upon release in 2027. And who knows, maybe we’ll look back and wish we had paid more attention.

Here’s how I’ll frame 2024: Back to Bordeaux

I returned back to the region and the region returned back to a more classically-styled approach. 2022 and 2023 were anomalies—so fresh and approachable out the gate, yet strong and powerful. 2024 is subtler. And this could be a good thing. Wine business reports keep saying drinkers want lower-alcohol, lighter wines. If that’s you, 2024 might be your Bordeaux vintage. Grand vins, top of the class wines, were coming in under 13% ABV this year. A happy accident? Or maybe just a blessing in disguise to appeal  to a new audience of Bordeaux drinkers.

Like I keep saying, these aren’t wines of old. There is more money, science, and knowledge put into these wines than anywhere else. They're literally launching salt-filled balloons into the sky to prevent hail storms in Saint-Emilion. Like excuse me.

So no, I won’t be doom and gloom about the vintage. I refuse to write it off entirely. But I will be honest. I’ll be patient. And I’ll be careful.