2024 Futures
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Second wine from Château Valandraud.
Vinous (A. Galloni): 92-94/100 "The 2024 Virginie de Valandraud Blanc offers a captivating mix of tension and textural richness. Tangerine peel, marzipan, dried flowers, chamomile and light tropical notes all open in the glass. In 2024, there is a touch of malolactic fermentation in the Sémillon for the first time. More than anything else, I admire the balance here."
Bettane & Desseauve : 92-93/100 « Grande énergie pour ce vin mûr et profond, déjà expressif, il va évoluer de la meilleure des façons. »
Vinous (N. Martin): 90-92/100 "The 2024 Virginie de Valandraud Blanc was picked through three passages in the vines à la Sauternes and was matured in 70% new oak and 30% concrete tanks. It has an attractive bouquet with yellow plum, wild peach and honeysuckle scents. The palate is fresh on the entry with lime cordial and orange pith notes, well balanced with decent persistency on the finish. A delicious Virginie de Valandraud."
J-M Quarin : 89/100 « Couleur jaune pâle. Joli nez fruité, intense et mentholé. Bouche tendre, fruitée, savoureuse, séveuse, mais manquant un peu de gras malgré les 30 % de fermentation malolactique faite sur le sémillon. »
More- To keep or to drink:
- Available early 2027
- Potential alcohol:
- 12.5%
- Blend:
- 55 % sauvignon gris, 40 % sauvignon blanc, 5 % sémillon
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Since the 2023 vintage, Doisy-Daëne has been making a confidential cuvée (1,200 bottles) from its oldest Semillon vines, planted on the limestone plateau of Barsac. Entirely vinified in barrels, this 100% Semillon on limestone is an intense, straightforward wine, with intense aromas of vine peach and a lovely sapid freshness on the finish.
Vinous (A. Galloni): 94-96/100 "The 2024 Blanc sec Sémillon syr Calcaire is another mind-blowing dry white from Doisy-Daëne. Rich, creamy and ample, with all the freshness and brilliance conferred by the limestone soils of Barsac, the Sémillon sur Calcaire is positively stellar. Orchard fruit, apricot, white flowers, salt and white truffle build into the resonant, palate-staining finish. This is world-class all the way. Stated simply, Doisy-Daëne's Sémillon sur Calcaire is a new reference point for dry white in Bordeaux."
Bettane & Desseauve : 92-93/100 « Bouche légèrement perlante mais qui exprime un registre florale marqué, avec des notes de terpènes à la manière d’un riesling, jolie acidité et fruité agréable. »
La Revue du Vin de France : 90-92/100 « Deuxième millésime de ce pur sémillon de Barsac, contrepoint du sec de sauvignon produit ici depuis 1948. Le boisé est prégnant à ce stade (barrique d’un vin) mais ne masque pas le relief et l’allonge de la matière, d’une densité supérieure, ferme de bout en bout, tendue vers son objectif final, autoritairement borné par une sensation de tranchant crayeux. »
Vinous (N. Martin): 89-91/100 "The 2024 Sémillon Sur Calcaire has a more complex and, as you might expect, limestone-influenced bouquet compared to the Doisy-Daëne Grand Vin Sec, with touches of grass clippings and light patisserie aromas on the nose. The palate is well balanced with a brisk opening. It has fine depth with a slightly oily texture, although this needs a little more complexity to come through on the finish. I am intrigued to see how it will show once in bottle."
More- To keep or to drink:
- Available early 2027
- Blend:
- 100 % Sémillon
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Started in 2003, the Clos Louie adventure is a textbook case: a dolly vineyard (2.3 ha) on a beautiful clay-limestone terroir of Castillon, careful biodynamic cultivation, double manual sorting during the harvest, low-intervention vinification, gentle maturation in 500-litre demi-muids.
Louison et Léopoldine is the other Clos Louie wine, a tribute to Cabernet Franc (80%) from 50-year-old vines. Clean, bright fruit and remarkable aromatic freshness: a real nugget!More- To keep or to drink:
- Available early 2027
- Organic certification:
- 2012
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Labégorce was born of the merger of Châteaux Labégorce and Labégorce-Zédé, brought together under a single entity by the Perrodo family (Tour de Mons, Marquis d'Alesme). Since 1989, every effort has been made to produce a Margaux that is harmonious, charming and brilliantly fruity.
Vinous (A. Galloni): 90-92/100 "The 2024 Labégorce is laced with succulent dark cherry fruit, mocha, new leather, espresso and licorice. Copious new oak works well for this wine. Labégorce offers quite a bit of immediacy in a pliant, flamboyant style."
Vinous (N. Martin): 90-92/100 "The 2024 Labégorce has a nicely poised bouquet with crushed violet-tinged black fruit. The oak is nicely integrated in this Labégorce, a little "fuller" than its peers. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins. The 2024's fine backbone lends sastifying grips and weight, even if it doesn't quite have the complexity of the best recent vintages. It might well improve by the time of bottling."
J-M Quarin : 90/100 « Couleur sombre, intense et belle. Nez très aromatique, fin, fruité et mûr. Joli fond de bois de chêne. Minutieux en entrée de bouche, très aromatique au milieu, avec un joli déroulé, le vin monte en finale, séveux, persistant et très bien construit. Une réussite du millésime. »
La Revue du Vin de France : 89-90/100 « Le nez est généreusement fruité, avec une note épicée qui le rehausse. En bouche, la matière est noble, avec de la rondeur et une belle chair. Le bois le couvre encore et marque la finale à ce stade. »
More- To keep or to drink:
- Available early 2027
- Potential alcohol:
- 13%
- Blend:
- 65 % cabernet sauvignon, 30 % merlot, 2 % cabernet franc, 2 % malbec, 1 % petit verdot
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Beau-Séjour Bécot is now in the hands of the third generation, represented by Juliette Bécot and her husband Julien Barthe. These dynamic forty-somethings have no shortage of inspiration when it comes to producing “modern” wines, adapted to climatic challenges and consumer expectations: replanting in a north/south direction to avoid overheating the grapes, the choice of a new consultant oenologist (Thomas Duclot) who favors wines that are not overly demonstrative, early harvesting and measured extractions to preserve the freshness of the fruit, less new wood (55%) and the use of tuns and jars (20%) to lighten the tannic structure...
Since the construction of the new winery in 2023, the wines have excelled thanks to their elegant, uncluttered structure, their gourmet, fruity and floral aromas, and their dynamic, sapid finishes. For the Revue du Vin de France, as for us, “this is the archetypal Bordeaux that can be enjoyed now, but also put away in the cellar”.Vinous (A. Galloni): 95-97/100 « 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. »
Bettane & Desseauve : 95-96/100 « D’une grande subtilité où cabernet franc et terroir calcaire se combinent de la plus belle des façons. Vibrant et précis en bouche, complexe, avec du rebond en final. Long, persistant, portée par une fraîcheur de fleurs poivrées et une minéralité subtile. »
J-M Quarin : 94/100 « Couleur rouge bordeaux, intense, aux reflets pourpres. Nez intense, fin, fruité, subtil et noble. Magnifique entrée en bouche, très aromatique, à la texture de rêve. L'ensemble, complexe et noble, fond sur le palais, délicat, délicieux et incrachable. Un monde brillant de minutie. »
La Revue du Vin de France : 93-95/100 « Les sélections massales de cabernet franc (22 %) plantées il y a quinze pour accompagner les merlots portent leurs fruits. Il s'aligne parfaitement avec les derniers millésimes au château. Une superbe robe violine, pleine d'entrain. Sa distinction aromatique florale, très marquée par la violette, le place au sommet de Saint-Émilion en 2024. Sa silhouette finement dessinée, à la fois douce et traçante, conduit jusqu'à une finale extrêmement salivante. »
More- To keep or to drink:
- Available early 2027
- Potential alcohol:
- 13%
- Blend:
- 78% Merlot, 22% Cabernet Franc