Strong nerves, patience and a willingness to take risks were key. Of course, excellent terroir and manpower were also essential. You had to wait very patiently for the grapes to ripen - with the simultaneous risk of botrytis.

On the Right Bank, too, it was all about the best possible ripening: Grandseigneur Jacques Thienpont from the iconic Le Pin vineyard summed it up as follows: "Our aim was to achieve the best possible ripening of the grapes."

It was a difficult year for Christian Moueix, who owns iconic jewels such as Lafleur-Pétrus and Trotanoy on the Right Bank. "With the climatic conditions, we needed strong nerves to wait for the grapes to ripen and had to be extremely selective during the harvest. We completely declassified two vineyards in Pomerol, Château Hosanna and Château La Grave Pomerol, and did not bottle them," he told me. In the interview, however, he emphasized the freshness and drinkability as well as the moderate alcohol levels. "A vintage that will be fun early on."

The full video interview will be available shortly at www.finewineguide.de and on my Instagram profile.

However, thanks to the warm and dry months of July and August as well as very strict selection first on the vine and then on the sorting tables, the tide could still be turned in many places - at the cost of lower yields. However, there are dramatic differences from château to château, which required a great deal of attention when tasting. Even with big names.

This is also the biggest difference to the extremely voluptuous 2023 and 2022 vintages, where you could buy almost anything blind. By contrast, 2024 is a stock-picking year. This is because the winemaker and terroir play a decisive role. The mildew infestation and trickling affected almost all wineries, especially the more susceptible Merlot variety.

Accordingly, the proportion of Cabernet - Cabernet Sauvignon on the Left Bank and Cabernet Franc on the Right Bank - is significantly higher than average, with the Grand Vin of Château Montrose at 80 percent and Château Latour at around 95 percent, which is extremely rare.

The director of Château Latour, Hélène Génin, with whom I had an excellent one-to-one tasting including the 2016 vintage, which scored 100 points, told me how difficult it was to combat mildew pressure using only organic methods. But thanks to "careful sorting and low yields, we have a very good and ripe Cabernet Sauvignon with good concentration".

She is also convinced that her 2024 wines will mature excellently.

The entire video interview with her will soon be available on www.finewineguide.de and on my Instragram channel.
 

The wines generally have low pH values, i.e. high acidity, and low alcohol levels of 12.0 to 13.0% by volume. The supporting tannins are predominantly fine-meshed and polished, often even silky. I find them better than in the 2021 vintage, which is why I tend to rate the current vintage higher. The fruit is playful and often shows red berry aromas and freshness. These are clearly the characteristics and advantages of the vintage. It is often said that the wines are slender and charming. I think that's a bit of an overstatement. Sure, it was a "cooler" year, and yes, there are wines that seem thin.

But there are also many densely woven wines with a beguiling fullness of extract, such as the Grand Vin from Château Latour, Haut-Brion, Pontet-Canet, Lynch-Bages or Les Carmes Haut-Brion - and all with moderate alcohol levels. Those who selected strictly and were able to delay the harvest due to the well-draining terroir were rewarded with almost ripe grapes. Julien Barthe from Château Beau-Séjour Bécot reported that the Merlot had never been harvested as late as this year in order to achieve the best possible ripeness. This was heard in unison. For many, the key to the 2024 vintage was to take risks in order to achieve good ripeness.

The best wines show juicy aromatics, good drinking animation and charming accessibility, and often a silky tannin structure. The concentration tends to be in the medium range. Fabien Teitgen, Technical Director of Smith Haut Lafitte said: "You had to extract very gently."

Overall, it was a classic year with great drinkability, finesse and charm. Wines for early enjoyment. We often heard: "A vintage that suits the current market environment." After the opulent 2022 and 2023 vintages, this is a refreshing change that should also be affordable.

Matthieu Cuvelier from Clos Fourtet even sees advantages in the complexity of the vintage: "Ultimately, we are delighted with this vintage because it is not the climate that determines the wine. The 2024 Bordeaux is a vintage that expresses our true identity through our limestone terroir."

The cooler year produced great white and sweet wines. Rarely have I had so many good white wines in my glass. Accordingly, there are some wines with 95 points. In first place for me is the white Haut-Brion with even 96/100, closely followed by Mouton Rothschild's Aile d'Argent (one of the best I have tasted so far), Smith Haut Lafitte, Pavillon Blanc, La Mission Blanc, Pape Clément Blanc and Cos d'Estournel Blanc.

The special thing about Bordeaux: these wines range from well under 100 euros to the very expensive and rare Haut Brion Blanc, which can easily cost over 600 euros. They are very clearly defined, mineral wines with good energy and race. This also applies to the best sweet wines. If you want to get an idea of the beguiling playfulness and precision of these wines from Sauternes and Barsac , you should try the magical wines from Coutet, Guiraud, Suduiraut or Lafaurie Peyraguey.

The châteaux wanted to do everything they could to keep the subscription threshold low. This could also be heard everywhere. On site, I interviewed the new president of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB) and co-owner of Branaire-Ducru, François-Xavier Maroteaux: "We will see very competitive prices" (see interview on Instagram). His Branaire-Ducru came with a price of 26.50 euros bottle (ex-Négociant). This represents a discount of almost 18% compared to the 2023 issue price and is the cheapest it has been since 2013 (except 2021).

Of course, 2024 doesn't have it easy after the great vintages of 2022 and 2023. It could find its place as a rather early, ready-to-drink and inexpensive year, not necessarily for long cellaring, although I don't see the drinking window being too short either.

The quantity is small and, as announced by many château owners, the wines are mostly offered at dramatically reduced prices. For the excellently rated wines, this represents an attractive entry point.

As so often, Pontet Canet set the pace and came out at €50 ex-château and €60 ex-Négociant. That's 10 percent less than 2023 and even 33 percent less than the 2022. For many, however, that was too expensive. But then other châteaux offered significantly greater discounts.

Nevertheless, the challenge remains: The market already offers ready-to-drink wines at similar or even lower prices.

Added to this are the general negative factors, such as declining consumption, the uncertain global economy and changes in consumer behavior, particularly among the younger generation, who are more multi-optional and tend not to subscribe to the same extent as their parents' generation.

Of the premier cru icons, Château Lafite was the first to surprise - with a discount of 30 percent below the issue price of the 2023 vintage and even 52 percent below that of the 2022 vintage. Château Lafite-Rothschild has announced the en primeur price for the 2024 vintage at 288 euros (ex-Négociant, the wholesaler on Place de la Bordeaux). This is on a par with 2014 and more than half the price of the dream 2022 vintage.

According to initial offers, the wine will be available to private customers in Germany and Austria on subscription for around 400 euros. The price from wholesaler Bordeaux is traditionally quoted without VAT.

According to analysts at the London trading platform Liv-ex, this is currently by far the cheapest Lafite vintage. This was followed by Angélus and Cheval Blanc - they have also reduced their prices by 30 percent compared to the previous year and have thus returned to prices that have not been achieved for at least a decade.

Mouton Rotschild came with a discount of no less than 25 percent. With 95-96/100 points, these are all excellent wines.

Château Gruaud Larose also released its 2024 vintage at €43.20 per bottle (ex-Négociant), the lowest price since 2013. This corresponds to a price reduction of almost 28 percent compared to 2023.

Château Duhart-Milon 2024 was released at €45 per bottle (ex-Négociant) - a drop of around 19% compared to 2023. According to Liv-ex, however, the wines have so far generated very little demand after the price was announced, as the vintage does not offer good value for money compared to cheaper, higher-rated vintages.

I hear from the trade that the campaign started very slowly, but has picked up a little recently. Peer Pfeiffer, Export Manager at Borie Manoux, expects a fast campaign. "People are buying what needs to be bought because it has already been resold," he told me on site during the Primeurs, which he has now confirmed once again.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate gave very low scores overall, such as Château Lafite 2024 with just 91 to 94 points, while others, such as Neil Martin from Vinous, were only slightly higher on average, but rated rather cautiously overall. Others, on the other hand, have given absurdly high scores in some cases, but these tend to lead to head-shaking in the market and even among merchants because they do not do justice to the vintage.

Château Margaux came out at 276 euros per bottle ex négociant, the lowest price since 2014, which represents a 25% drop compared to 2023. Other famous domains followed with similar discounts. However, despite the price reductions, there was no real enthusiasm. Demand for the 2024 vintage was very subdued - and remained so until the end of the difficult campaign.