Bordeaux 2025 Primeurs: The Rest of the Right
I rolled out of bed, showered, dressed, and then – as quietly as I could – crept down the stairs of the Air BNB I had rented for the night.
I gingerly closed the door behind me, and slipped the key into the lock box. The sun had yet to rise, so I crept through the pre-dawn gloom towards the car. The plan was simple; head back to Twingo, silently stow my luggage in the boot, and then stealthily slip away.
I had a long drive ahead of me. Having finished yesterday’s tastings hopping between the Graves and Sauternes appellations, I was about to head cross-country for the right bank, for an 8am tasting appointment. It would mean more than an hour behind the wheel, but at least the rural route I had planned would mean I could avoid the morning rush hour around Bordeaux, and escape any gridlock on the Rocade.
Best of all, I was escaping my captors. I had not seen Taylor Swift – the spirit guide funded by the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, one of which is assigned to every critic visiting the region during primeurs – since late yesterday afternoon. And I hadn’t seen the BG-100, the points-enforcing automaton made in the image of Björk, for several days. She had been undergoing a software upgrade – perhaps, I thought, with all my fingers crossed, it would take longer than anticipated.
Like a Windows 11 update, I thought to myself.
And maybe it would fail before completion, and then have to be reversed, soaking up yet more time.
Also like a Windows 11 update.
I crept around the corner, carrying my case rather than wheeling it, to keep the noise to a minimum. And there was Twingo, waiting for me, parked on the grass verge at the corner of a parcel of vines.
And Taylor Swift. Rats! Wearing a flame red corset mini dress, the exact Vivienne Westwood design she wore to the Grammys back in 2025, she was leaning against Twingo’s hatchback, exuding a casual and cruel malevolence.
And there was the BG-100, in the shape of Björk. Double rats! The white leather dress from the 1996 Homogenic tour had gone, replaced – of course – by the iconic Swan dress, designed by Marjan Pejoski for the 2001 Academy Awards. Björk stood upright, feet slightly apart, holding in both hands a titanium baton. Even to my untrained eye I could see she had been upgraded; the dress, the baton, the snarling grin. A very serious upgrade.
“Going somewhere?” enquired Taylor.
“Yes, we’re heading to the right bank. I was, err, just going to load up Twingo before I wake you. I didn’t realise you were waiting for me.”
I was becoming quite used to lying to Taylor.
“Sure you were,” she replied. I threw my suitcase into the back, after which Taylor bundled me into the driver’s seat, assisted by a few sharp jabs from Björk’s baton.
“Off we go then,” commanded Taylor after they had climbed in beside me. “I hear there are some real right-bank treats in this vintage.”
-o-
In this report I present all my tasting notes on the wines of the right bank, beyond the St Emilion and Pomerol appellations. It might sometimes be regarded as a list of ‘also rans’, the wines of Castillon, Fronsac, Lalande-de-Pomerol and the various St Emilion Satellites somewhat overshadowed by those of the more famous appellations.
I must stress, however, that some of these appellations have produced simply fabulous wines in the 2025 vintage.
