Best St-Emilion 2024 wines tasted en primeur

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St-Emilion 2024: Mixed results given the size and varying terroirs but some outstanding, ageable wines

Average yield St-Emilion: 40.8hl/ha, Grand Cru: 36.4hl/ha

Variance from 2023: -5.4% (43.1.hl/ha), Grand Cru: -10.6% (40.5hl/ha)

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top wines from St-Emilion 2024

Vintage overview

St-Emilion is rarely homogenous given the sheer size and varying terroirs and 2024 is no different, however there are some brilliant wines that really dispel the notion that it was a difficult year.

I thought the Canon stable of wines was particularly good, I loved Lassegue and thought Clos Dubreuil was a great effort in the vintage.

Estates on limestone; Belair Monange, the two Beausejours and Clos Fourtet did extremely well not to lean too heavily into austerity while Figeac and Cheval produced really lovely wines in 2024.

TrotteVieille and Troplong performed well and I was impressed by L’If, too.

Destieux was a little more reserved than usual which I enjoyed and de Ferrand, La Dominique and Laroque were also very good.

A special shout out also to the biodynamic estate Croix de Labrie who produced a fabulous wine in 2024 despite the conditions.

What the winemakers thought

For Pierre Olivier Clouet, technical director of Cheval Blanc, the 2024 grand vin is ‘impressive but more serious than smiley and pleasant’.

‘In 2024, we forget about sweetness, volume, silkiness and sexiness – these are academic wines. Cheval is almost shy at this point but super complex and elegant’. Clouet compared 2024 to 2014, 2008 and 2004. ‘We will need the maturation process to polish and integrate the wines due to the acidity and tannins,’ he said.

‘In a way I am super proud that we can still make these vintages in Bordeaux. That’s the charm – the diversity – and that we can go back to a vintage like we had in the 1980s in terms of climate but we have better know-how and technology to make excellent wines,’ he added.

The strategy at Cheval was to wait for maximum ripeness then harvest quickly. They had two teams one from 6am-2pm and the second 2pm-8pm. ‘We usually pick 18ha in seven days, in 2024 we did it in two and a half.

They also chaptalised like many, carried out bleeding and used a densimetric sorting machine – ‘three things we usually never do’. They discarded 34% of production with a vinification yield of 28 hl/ha.

For Frédéric Faye, technical director at Figeac the blending sessions were more difficult than usual. ‘It took 10 three-hour sessions to get it right because some lots took more time than others to express themselves’.

They also used a densimetric sorted and discarded 21% of their crop.

Aymeric de Gironde, technical director at Troplong Mondot emphasised the ‘teamwork’ nature of the vintage. ‘There’s a particular feeling of reward when you have to work hard at every stage of the year. It was a challenging year but everyone came together’.

Matthieu Cuvelier, owner of Clos Fourtet, also likened the 2024 vintage to 2014 and 2008 as well as 2001. ‘When you strip it all back this is what you get’ he said. For the grand vin they used only the limestone plateau plots and used a densimetric sorter.

Joséphine Duffau-Lagarrosse co-owner and director of Beauséjour said ‘we can’t have easy vintages every year’ adding that they lost 25% of production to mildew and a further 15% from drastic sorting. The new, custom built cellar with small tanks came in handy for precise vinifications in 2024.

For Angélus’ head of wine Benjamin Laforet winemaking is about ‘translating a grape into a product.’

‘We focus on what nature gives us, we adapt to the weather conditions and moderate our picking to each terroir. We don’t want to force anything, we want the wines to be open, charming and accessible,’ he said.

Standouts

• Angélus
• Canon
• Beau-Séjour Bécot
• Figeac
• Troplong Mondot

Highlights

• Bélair-Monange
• Cheval Blanc
• Beauséjour
• Larcis Ducasse
• Pavie
• Ausone
• Clos Fourtet
• La Gaffelière
• Croix de Labrie
• Trotte Vieille

Value

• Bellefont-Belcier
• Carillon d’Angélus
• Franc Mayne
• Laroque
• Lassègue
• La Dominique
• Fleur Cardinale
• Fombrauge
• Moulin St Georges
• Sansonnet
• Cadet Bon
• de Ferrand
• Fonplégade
• Fonroque

See all 148 St-Emilion 2024 wines

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