- Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate has published its Bordeaux 2023 report, scores and tasting notes.
- The two reviewers, William Kelley and Yohan Castaing, awarded three wines the top score of 98-100 points.
- The best wines of the vintage, according to Kelley, exhibit both Continental and Atlantic characteristics.
In time for the first of the Chateaux releases this week, Wine Advocate has published its 2023 Bordeaux En Primeur scores. William Kelley was, once again, joined by Yohan Castaing as a close collaborator.
Kelley described the 2023 vintage as a ‘fascinating paradox’. This paradox, he says, is reflected in the wines’ nature and will be reflected in their release prices. A warm growing season has resulted in the best of the 2023s exhibiting ‘fully ripe tannins and suave, seamless mouthfeels of a sunny vintage such as 2019’, while the lack of sunshine has allowed for ‘vibrant aromas and flavors, evocative of fresh fruits and flowers [that] are more indicative of a cooler year’.
The critic highlights mildew as the primary challenge faced by growers this season. Merlot suffered in particular, which accounts for the higher percentage of Cabernet in many of this year’s blends. Dealing with mildew, he says, is ‘a question of resources, both human and material; but it’s also a question of data, timing and even an element of luck’. Estates ‘working with fewer constraints’, he pointed out, ‘tended to fare better’.
While Kelley believes that ‘the best 2023s are just as exciting as the best 2022s’, he predicts that prices will drop significantly from those of the past three vintages. If that is the case, he says, ‘consumers will have the opportunity to acquire exceptional wines for an attractive price’. With previous years leaving ‘consumers questioning the interest of buying futures’, if release prices fail to drop adequately, ‘difficult times lie ahead’.
Wine Advocate’s top-scoring Bordeaux 2023 wines
Château Lafleur 2023, awarded a barrel range of 98-100 points, tops the list of Wine Advocate scores this year. Kelley believes the 2023 to have surpassed its 2022 counterpart, counting it among the ‘small number of contenders’ for wine of the vintage. He praised ‘its exquisite structure, intensity without weight and ineffable harmony’.
According to Kelley, Château Cheval Blanc 2023 is ‘one of the most profound’ wines of the vintage, standing out for its ‘strong sense of identity and seamless integration’.
Joining James Suckling in his praise of Château Montrose 2023, Kelley says the wine will be ‘worth a special effort to seek out’.
Our Bordeaux En Primeur 2023 page contains everything you need to know about this year’s campaign. You can also sign up for our daily En Primeur email alerts using the form below.
