March releases on the Place de Bordeaux 2024: Report and top-scoring wines

There is plenty of excitement to be had from this range of wines with several newcomers and expanded offerings from existing estates joining the famous international marketplace.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the March 2024 releases via the Place de Bordeaux

From Chile, Casa Lapostolle has added its 100% Syrah, Clos du Lican, for the first time as well as releasing a special number of Clos Apalta ‘Vinotheque’ 2014 bottles. And Viña Errazuriz has extended its range, with its Las Pizarras Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah wines joining Seña and Viñedo Chadwick which already go through La Place.

A new wine from Napa has joined from Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, its SLV (famously the top-scoring red wine in the 1976 Judgement of Paris) from the 2021 vintage, as well as an increased offering of six new wines from the Penfolds Luxury & Icon portfolio including, for the first time, the blue chip Grange.

New single-vineyard Brunello di Montalcino wines are available from Talenti and Poggio Antico including the brilliant 2.5ha Vigna I Poggi, as well as new vintages from Piedmont’s family-owned and run Borgogno with the current 2017 and 2018s of its rare, and tiny-production Liste and heralded Cannubi Riservas joining re-releases in mixed cases of three.

Château Latour retains it’s long-standing tradition of offering back vintages of the first, second and third wines, this year seeing the release of the stunning 2017 grand vin, 2018 Les Forts de Latour and 2019 Pauillac de Château Latour.

Three new vintages of Pajzos T Furmint 2022, H Late Harvest 2021, and Esszencia 2017 from Tokaji, owned and managed by Jean-Louis and Ronan Laborde of Château Clinet in Pomerol, have also been released.

In addition, this campaign features the possibility to secure a mixed case of six Australian icon wines together with a special limited-edition, linen bound edition of Andrew Caillard MW’s three-volume grand opus on Australian wine as part of the ‘Australian Ark Collection’.

Taking over a decade to publish, it focuses on Australia’s fine wine pioneers spanning the three time periods: 1788-1900: The Colonial Era, 1901-1983: Federation to the Modern Era and 1983-present day: Contemporary Times – Recollections and Perspectives and connects the story of Australian wine to the most highly prized family-owned wineries across the country including: Henschke (Eden Valley), Jim Barry (Clare Valley), Leeuwin Estate (Margaret River), Mount Mary (Yarra Valley), Tyrells (Hunter Valley) and Yalumba (Barossa) – all which have a bottle in the case. Only 594 cases will be offered through a select number of négociants with the 3-volume collection available on its own via the Academie du Vin Library.

The March releases is always a special tasting as it covers so many regions and styles of wine from China with Ao Yun to Rioja with Alma as well as Tokaji, Champagne and Amarone, and this year was a particular highlight with offerings from the exceptional Italian triptych of 2019 (Brunello di Montalcino), 2020 (Barolo) and 2021 (Super Tuscans) as well as standout Napas from 2019 and 2021 and a Champagne from 2012.

The number and qualitative strength of the wines tasted showcase the lure and appeal of La Place and signal a continued desire from Bordeaux to offer a diverse range of international wines to the wider fine wine world.

SCORE TABLE: See all Place de Bordeaux March releases 2024

Standout wines:

• Promontory 2019
• Henschke, Mount Eldestone 2018
• Jim Barry, The Armagh Shiraz 2016
• Borgogno, Barolo Cannubi Riserva 2017 and 2018
• Ceretto Bricco Roche 2020
• Cathiard Vineyard 2021
• Penfolds Bin 169, Bin 707, Grange
• Poggio Antico Vigna I Poggi
• Ao Yun
• Casa Lapostolle, Clos du Lican

Market conditions

While anticipation for the ‘hors Bordeaux’ wines has been steadily increasing over the past few years, it’s likely, given the current market conditions that these wines, however appealing, may find it tougher than usual to find homes.

Négociants in Bordeaux are still coping with the fallout from last year’s 2022 En Primeur campaign which saw increased ex-châteaux prices coupled with subsequent reduced consumer interest across the board (sustained lack of the Asian market presence, political instability across the world, higher costs of living, changing purchasing habits by younger drinkers etc).

The issue was, and still is, compounded by rising interest rates which means the merchants who rely on borrowing money to buy the wines in the first place, as much as three times more than it has been in the past, without guaranteed onward sales, run a risk.

Some businesses managed the same amount of trade as in 2021 by value, but only a handful of wines sold out with some allocations being unfulfilled for the first time in several years. Indeed, given the run of good vintages there is a lot of Bordeaux wine sat in stock right now with cellars full and consumer purchasing low.

The September releases campaign that followed was equally difficult with négociants facing the same dilemmas. Selling wines with existing reputations and customer bases was hard even for stalwart wines Masseto and Opus One (although this was a re-release) however these did eventually sell through, but for new wines or those which require more of a hand-sell times were tough. Joining La Place is, for many, a long-term goal although it should theoretically offer short term incremental price increases – with benefits on both sides.

Looking forward

But, as margins are squeezed, and the global economy remains precarious, it will be interesting to see how these March releases do.

It’s likely only wines with guaranteed onward journeys will be purchased however, with plenty of sales teams at both Wine Paris and ProWein earlier this year – as well as travelling more than ever, the situation could be on the cusp of turning for the better with the USA still keen and emerging markets in South East Asia (Thailand, Korea) and Brazil potential sources of new revenue.

There is also the possibility of extended purchasing with orders fulfilled beyond the upcoming Primeurs campaign depending how successful it is.

Further ahead, it remains to be seen whether there will be any newcomers to the annual September releases with the all important Bordeaux 2023 campaign the next big date in the diary. So far, rumours are it’ll be an early and quick campaign with anticipated decreases of around 30 up to 50% needed to re-engage the market.

The top-scoring March Releases 2024

The following tasting notes and scores are all by Georgie Hindle based on recent tastings in Bordeaux. A select number, including some Italian wines and the Penfolds Collection, were also tasted as part of other Decanter reports by Michaela Morris, David Sly, James Button and Tina Gellie, with both notes shown where available on individual wine pages. Wines are listed in order of style, colour and score. 

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