Bordeaux Guide 2026: Get the inside track on this famous region

Welcome to Decanter's Bordeaux Guide 2026

Our Bordeaux Guide for 2026 brings you all the latest from one of the wine world's benchmark regions, and one in which deep-rooted tradition is brilliantly integrated with forward-looking dynamism.

Published alongside Decanter magazine's May 2026 issue, the guide also follows hot on the heels of our new en primeur report on the exciting Bordeaux 2025 vintage – featuring tasting notes on hundreds of wines.

A message from Bordeaux editor Georgie Hindle

Hello Bordeaux lovers, and welcome to this year’s guide! There’s nowhere quite like Bordeaux when it comes to pure wine joy.

It’s a region bursting with possibility – diverse, multi-generational and always ready to surprise you with something new, whether it’s a brilliant hidden-value gem or a legendary bottle that stops you in your tracks.

Every sip feels like an invitation to dive deeper, laugh louder and connect over glasses that tell stories.

This year brings a poignant yet uplifting reminder of how to embrace that joy fully, with the passing of two major figures of the industry, Michel Rolland and Daniel Cathiard.

Their legendary reverence for life, passion for great wine, good food, lively conversations with friends, travel and pure pleasure should stay with all of us.

So let’s open bottles, share them generously, debate passionately and let wine do what it does best: bring people together.

And bring people together it does. While headlines love to say we’re drinking and buying less, Bordeaux quietly proves otherwise. It remains one of the very best – if not the absolute best – regions on earth for sparking real excitement and enjoyment, with outstanding wines in every style and at every budget.

This is best emphasised by Marc Bouffard’s article covering his pick of 10 top-value estates among the 1855 Grands Crus Classés – yes, it is still possible to find bargains among these well-known names.

Panos Kakaviatos assesses all 14 third growths to see who is overdelivering on quality for price, and I take an intimate look at Château Batailley, a ‘pillar of value’ for Pauillac.

In our coverage of what turned out to be an extraordinary and very high-scoring panel tasting, you’ll also find a tranche of 35, no less, 95pt-plus Outstanding wines from the excellent 2020 vintage on Bordeaux’s Right Bank.

These include numerous at accessible prices as low as £20 per bottle in bond, and there are nearly 100 others rated at 90pts or more, with 54 wines in all being awarded our ‘Value’ status, for price and quality within this category.

Plus, in her ‘Expert’s choice’, Valeria Tenison sifts through the vast number of St-Emilion Grand Cru estates to pick 18 worth tracking down.

I hope you enjoy reading this guide as much as I loved putting it together – and that it inspires you to find some wonderful bottles to continue your Bordeaux journey.

What's inside Decanter's Bordeaux Guide 2026

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