Bordeaux 2024 Primeurs: Primeur Picks
I stepped through the door at Climens, the moment at which the 2024 vintage primeurs entered the past tense. I was no longer tasting the vintage. I had tasted it. Well most of it; there were one or two châteaux which did not respond to my request for an appointment, and there were a few wines I just never encountered, or which proprietors chose not to show after this difficult season. But I had tasted everything I could.
I found Twingo just where I had left him, in the square of rough ground which serves as the car park for the château. Aubrey shimmered nearby, while Taylor leaned nonchalantly against Twingo’s diminutive bonnet. Squatting in the far corner of the square was a black cacophony of sound, a Sikorsky S-92 Executive helicopter, its rotor blades beating through the air as it idled, ready for take-off. Needless to say it hadn’t been there 45 minutes earlier, when I had arrived.
“So this is farewell,” shouted Taylor, above the din. “My second time around the primeurs with you. It’s been fun!”
“Has it?” I replied, unsure what else to say. I was not expecting a sudden bout of positivity from my habitually sardonic and disdainful companion.
“No, not really,” replied Taylor. “But the UGC told me if I put in the time with you, something none of the other famous primeurs spirit guides – who, by the way, include Bjork, Céline Dion, Bonnie Taylor and the blonde one from Abba – were willing to do, I would eventually be promoted to a position accompanying a more significant critic. I’m hoping for that guy from ‘Mongolian Merlot Monthly’, but even…” – she paused for a moment, clearly considering her words, before continuing – “…well, to be honest anyone would do.”
And with that she arose, and began to stride towards the waiting whirlybird. She was joined by the shimmering cloud of energy that was the ghost of Aubrey Ealdwyn de Latour; the two linked arms as they walked (yes, you can link arms with a ghost, I checked).
“Aubrey’s coming with me, as you probably realised. We have struck up quite a friendship, and to be honest” – she turned to give me a wink – “I am hoping for a little more than that.”
And with that the two ascended the steps, and entered the body of the helicopter. Inside I could just visualise a stack of cases – Margaux, Palmer, Mouton, Petrus – it seemed Aubrey had managed to secure a few ‘samples’ along the way after all.
-o-
Twingo and I drove to Toulouse in near silence. I dropped him off in the rental returns zone, and we parted company.
“This isn’t goodbye, is it?” he asked. “Let’s just say it’s so long, for now. Until next year.”
“Absolutely, it’s just a temporary break,” I replied, as reassuringly as I could. “I will be back this time next year, and we will do it all again.”
I was sure I saw Twingo smile.
I didn’t mention that next year I will probably fly into Bergerac, it’s closer.
Buying in 2024
I usually conclude with a few words on buying en primeur, with some nods towards my favourite wines.
In this vintage the notion of buying at this stage seems fraught with risk. This is a ‘saved vintage’, akin to the more ‘ordinary’ vintages of the last thirty years.
