Best St-Estèphe 2023 wines tasted en primeur

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Appellation analysis

 St-Julien | Pauillac | Margaux | Pessac-Léognan | St-Emilion | Pomerol | Haut-Médoc | Dry whites | Top value | Sauternes & Barsac

St-Estèphe 2023: Clay soils and lower rainfall proved important for the appellation

Average yield: 51.6hl/ha

Variance from 2022: +63%

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top St-Estèphe en primeur 2023 wines

Vintage overview

Some excellent wines from this northerly appellation, typically showing a mineral edge with graphite, wet stone and liquorice elements, as well as both density and tension.

A ‘vintage of contradiction’ explained Vincent Millet, director at Château Calon Ségur. He was referring to the excessive humidity that impacted the more sensitive Merlots in June – leading to the mildew attack that month – and heatwaves in late August and September, which were not good for vines on lighter soils.

Concerning mildew, many in Bordeaux were at pains to stress that it was more an issue for quantity rather than quality. But only if sorting was done carefully, because otherwise one could detect stemmy, underripe aspects in wines, a tell-tale sign of mildew-affected grapes, Millet explained.

At Cos d’Estournel for example, the extent to which Merlot grapes were sorted had not been seen since the 2008 vintage. Two key advantages in St-Estèphe, vintners explained, were lower rainfall levels than in Margaux and a higher percentage of cooler clay soils which helped during the heat wave. Despite the best efforts to sort the Merlots, however, estates often had the highest-ever percentages of Cabernet in their blends.

So even with careful sorting, Millet chose to put his top, old vine Merlot grapes into the second wine, Le Marquis de Calon Ségur, which despite a bright attack and robust mid palate, dried out a bit on the finish.

‘That’s why we chose to put those Merlots into that wine,’ he said. For the first wine, with 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, Millet explained that the Cabernet Franc (12% of the blend) ‘plays the role of the Merlot in 2023’.

Indeed, the impression left is of a more linear style, with cooler fruit and most importantly no drying on the finish. A successful wine, but it could have been better had the estate been able to include the top-notch Merlots into the blend for an added level of sumptuousness. Château Cos d’Estournel and Château Montrose proved the two best from the appellation but the edge goes to Château Montrose, for which only 35% of the harvest was used.

Its polish with iron-like grip resembled Château Latour, along with beautiful precision in its expression of graphite, red cherry, and white flower. Among the many non-classified wines in this appellation, one encounters various extremes of tannin quality,

Château de Pez is one estate that shines brightly among the 2023 wines.

See the top-scoring St-Estèphe en primeur 2023 wines

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