Bordeaux 2024: Montrose sweeps into view with 29% price cut

Château Montrose 2024 — Decanter's Bordeaux editor, Georgie Hindle, tasting at Montrose this primeurs.

(Image credit: Luke Carver)

Château Montrose, Château Talbot and Château La Gaffelière lead another day of 2024 en primeur releases. All three estates have offered cuts in price versus their 2023 releases.

Since the release of Château Lafite Rothschild last week, cuts have (mostly) been deep across the board with each new offer.

Consultancy group, Wine Lister, noted today that: ‘So far in the 2024 campaign, ex-négociant prices are down 19% on the 2023 and down 37% on the 2022, while average recommended UK onward selling prices are down 22% on the 2023 and down 38% on the 2022.’

This has made many wines look attractively priced but initial reports suggest buyers still aren’t flocking to the new wines.

Château Montrose

The St-Estèphe second growth has offered its 2024 wine at €84 per bottle ex-négociant, a 29% cut to its 2023 release.

This translates to a price of around £507 per six bottles in-bond (IB) from UK merchants – though some – such as Berry Bros & Rudd – are offering it in cases of three for £261.

This is an estate with a strong track record in recent vintages and its 2024 wine has picked up an average score of around 95-points from many major critics.

Liv-ex, a global marketplace for the trade, noted that it, ‘comes in as one of the less expensive vintages available on the market’.

However, the 95-point 2021 and 2017 vintages are available at a discount, as is the 96-point 2014 vintage.

Its second wine, Dame de Montrose, is being offered at £144 per 6x75cl.

Château Talbot

Down in St-Julien, buyer’s favourite Château Talbot offered a smaller discount of 16% on its 2023 price.

The 2024 was being offered by négociants for €32.4 per bottle, with a sale price of £194 per 6x75cl IB.

This is another estate making positive strides with its quality.

Farr Vintners noted that its new technical director, Jean-Michel Laporte, was previously at La Conseillante and, ‘he is certainly upping the quality. There is now more body, depth and power than the Talbots of the past, but it is still fairly approachable at an early age’.

Liv-ex noted that the 2024 was the ‘least expensive available on the market for pirate collectors’, and ‘may present value to buyers’.

Château La Gaffelière

Right Bank estate La Gaffelière offered a 21.1% cut on its 2023 price, out at €35.5 per bottle ex-négociant.

UK merchants are offering the wine for £213 per six bottles IB. Liv-ex noted that the price made it ‘one of’ the least expensive vintages on the market, though the 2021 with a similar score and currently 10% cheaper ‘looks inviting’.

Release round-up

A few other estates have slipped their moorings between releases of other, headline-grabbing, wines.

These include Château Gazin which is out at £237 per six IB. The release price was down 18.6% on the 2023 and the new wine is the least expensive on the market according to Liv-ex.

Another notable release is Château Haut-Batailley (not be confused with Château Batailley which was released at the start of the campaign late last month).

The 2024 was offered with a 10.9% cut on its 2023 price, and is being offered by UK merchants for £193 per case of six IB.

However, Liv-ex noted that it looks expensive relative to several back vintages, including the better-scored 2016, 2019 and 2020.

Finally, Château Haut-Bages Libéral was released at a price equivalent to around £135 per six IB.

Coming soon: Our full report on Bordeaux 2024, to be published exclusively for Decanter Premium subscribers

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