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We've just completed our annual wine tasting and buying trip to Bordeaux to taste and understand the 2024 vintages.
The House of Townend Tasting Team 2024 – John Townend, Georgia Townend and Neil Goldie
It’s a numbers game…
I like numbers. Numbers give facts, they support and they explain differences and similarities equally. However, numbers have to be taken in context so I urge all readers to view the following numbers relating to important points that encapsulate the 2024 vintage in Bordeaux within the context of the wine notes and background following the House of Townend annual visit to Bordeaux and the tasting of wines, almost all samples drawn from barrel and therefore not fully finished.
Ok, here’s some numbers to remember in relation to the 2024 vintage and our annual wine tasting and buying trip to Bordeaux to taste and understand the 2024 vintages – all numbers related to facts within our accompanying Vintage 2024 overview.
650mm - The quantity of rain between Oct 2023 and April 2024 (the growing season) (10yr avg is 429mm)
45 - The highest number of vineyard treatments (sprays) revealed to us by a Château – the average was about 28..
25% - The percent reduction on average in yields across the major Grand Cru Classe appellations in 2024 (35.1hl/ha versus 10 year average of 42 hl/ha)
1345mm - The total rainfall as an average across the Bordeaux region Nov 2023 – end Oct 2024 (10yr avg 831mm)
16.6C - The average daily temperature in the vital ripening month of Sept 2024 – (2023 average was 19.5C – 10yr avg 18.7C)
310 - Wines tasted
238 - Miles driven
298 - Mentions of the word ‘fresh’ in my notes
Every year when we make our annual trip to Bordeaux to taste the barrel samples of Bordeaux red, white and sweet, we start by assessing the data and analysis from several different sources, looking at climatic conditions, rainfall analysis, sunshine and heat summations, disease and issues in both vineyard and winery, the state of the market etc. etc. – all so we can garner and understand what the wines may be like ahead of the first degustation.. but all that data and knowledge can be dismissed with the first taste on a cool Monday morning on the river bank in Bordeaux city as we begin the marathon tastings session that is Hanger 14. This is the first morning of the annual En Primeur campaign and it is a chance to taste, in a mere 3 hours, around 120 wines from all major regions of Bordeaux. As The House of Townend tasting team always say, it gives you an immediate impression of the vintage – a snapshot of the wines, the issues, the quality, and, most importantly, the character and style of the vintage.
Monday 14th April
And so, it was on Monday April 14th, we arrived at Hanger 14 around 8.30 beneath leaden skies (albeit in a slight grump after delays at Bordeaux Airport late on the Sunday night, meaning we actually got to bed after midnight). We all split up and started the walk round tasting, moving through each appellation in turn – tasting, swirling, spitting and writing notes, interspersed with conversation with the Château owners who gave valuable insights into vineyard issues, successes and reasons for the character of the 2024 wines.
It took us about 3 hours in total to taste through Haut Medoc, Moulis, St Julien, Margaux, Pauillac, St Estephe, Sauternes, Pomerol, St Emilion and Pessac – each of us tasting at a different speed, so we were never together, John, Georgia and I taking separate notes so that we could quickly build a view of the 2024 vintage. A few standout wines, but the wet and cool vintage saw us writing such words as elegant, fresh, drinking soon etc. etc. in note after note. From Hanger 14 on the Bordeaux Quai’s we were back in the car and heading an hour north east to St Emilion, where we had a tasting at Château Corbin, one of our long-term Montagne St Emilion estates, headed by the energetic Jacques Rambeaud. The visit took around an hour as the vintage 2024 was tasted, discussed and notes taken, then broader views on the Bordeaux trade, climate, economics, politics and Football were all aired… all in all a typical House of Townend visit – where our relationship with our long-standing growers is about more than just business.
From Château Corbin, it was a quick hop to Château Puy-Razac in St Emilion – a lovely small, family-owned Grand Cru property of just 7 Ha, lying next to the road to the south of St Emilion. Here we toured the domaine as it was a new one to some of us, inspecting the vat room, barrel room, old screw basket press (still used for pressing the lees after the ferment) before we tasted both the current vintage, along-side previous vintages for analysis sake.
A short drive from Puy-Razac then saw us at Jean Baptiste Audy, the offices and cellars of our long standing negociant Michel Audy, who has provided many top wines from both their own Pomerol and St Emilion estates, as well as suppling other top Grand Cru wines. By this time, it was gone 6.30 but we still faced a tasting of around 30 wines…as we were looking for particular wines for our growing portfolio. Our relationship with Jean-Babtiste precedes this generation, so again, more than just business was discussed. It was gone 7.45pm when we finally left, teeth stained purple from the young red wines, feet sore from standing for hours on hard surfaces, and palates jaded. A 15 minute turnaround at the Château Grand Corbon, our lodgings for the night, then back out for dinner with Jean Baptiste and Michel Moulene, who had brought along their Belgian customer. Several wines later, around midnight, we were finally back to bed, but not before we answered emails etc. that had been lurking in our inboxes since early afternoon.
Wines tasted - 138
Tuesday 15th April
A later start, as today we started the tasting at 9.30am at Château Gazin where this year’s UGC (Union de Grand Cru) for Pomerol was being held. Only a mere 9 wines to taste…at 9.30 in the morning – all red. For all those who think wine tasting is a leisurely holiday, take it from me – tasting 1 year old rigid, tannic red wines are not for the faint hearted! Just 10 minutes after leaving the Pomerol UGC we were parking outside Château Balestard La Tonnelle, the hosts of this years St Emilion UGC. Only 32 wines here…. Teeth already purple, feet not sore yet, but palate needs a rest – so lots of water, lots of dry bread and back into the car. The next stop was at top St Emilion estate, Château Troplong Mondot, where we had a private tasting with CEO Aymeric de Gironde. This is an estate that is a standout in 2024 (as it is most years TBF) It was just 12 noon when we finished, so a quick lunch at Balestard. The rain came as we started the drive back across the Gironde to Pessac, south of Bordeaux city, heading for the Pessac tasting at Château La Louviere, the 3rd UGC of the day (4 if you include the Sauternes UGC, also at La Louviere). This was a big tasting as most estates show both a red and a white Pessac – so, with Sauternes also to taste, we had around 65 wines to taste overall.
From Pessac we then headed north to Château Cantemerle, our next lodgings, where we were greeted by Commercial Director Pierre-Alexandre Gazaille, who gave us a guided tour of the huge overall and renovation of this old Château in Macau, just north of Bordeaux city. Cantemerle sits in over 200 hectares of ancient woodlands, parkland and vineyards, with the vines forming a large 100ha mono-bloc semi-circle in front of the turreted Château. The estate buildings were surrounded by tippers, diggers, scaffolds and cranes as workmen toiled on the construction of new Chais, cellars, reception building etc. – one of the largest winery ‘renovation’ the Medoc has seen in 50 years. Opening soon….
We tasted with Pierre-Alexandre,tasting all the wines made by the estate, as well as their sister property Château Grand Corbin in St Emilion. The Cantemerle 2024 had been a standout at the Hanger tasting on the Monday morning, it was interesting to note that it tasted as good, if not better, at the Château itself. Also of note was their second wine, Les Allées du Cantemerle. Tasting finished, we headed out again, this time for a dinner at Château du Tertre, preceded by a tour and tasting of the Château, cellars and barrel room. Dinner was a grand occasion, hosted by the Château owner in their lovely Orangery, with each course paired with a different (or in some cases several) wines. Back to Cantemerle for a late bedtime – midnight again once emails etc. were answered.
Wines tasted - 98
Wednesday 16th April – last full day
Another late start (!), in the car for 9.00am, parked at first tasting at 9.30am in Château Kirwan in the Margaux appellation. This was another big tasting, as we often like Margaux but had struggled with it at the Hanger event on Monday. Standouts we all agreed on were Angludet, Cantenac-Brown and Brane-Cantenac. By 10.45am we were snaking through narrow tracks within the mass of interconnecting vineyards to the UGC of St Julien, this year held in Château Talbot – looking resplendent in its nook of forest and parkland on a small rise of gravel sat back from the main road. The St Julien tasting was important as it has, over the years, grown to represent some of our most followed Châteaux, and again, in the cool wet vintage of 2024, good winemaking and terroir has given Julien reds some lovely fruit, a degree riper than others, and most showing lovely elegance and freshness. It was a talking point in the car as we headed to Château Leoville-Barton for a meeting with Hugo Boivin and Lilian Barton herself, where we tasted the full range of Barton wines, including the 2nd wines and Château Mauvesin-Barton, which was very good in 2024. More of that later. Leaving Leoville, we headed north and into Pauillac itself, where this years Pauillac UGC was held at Château Grand-Puy-Ducasse. Again, a large tasting as it included some lesser names, as well as St Estephe, so when we left an hour later, teeth VERY purple stained and gums hurting from the tannin assault, it meant we arrived at Château Pontet-Canet in Pauillac for a tasting of their single wine we were jaded. After one smell of Pontet-Canet 2024 in the glass, and a small sip, it has to be said, our jaded palates picked up. This could, arguably, be one of the wines of the vintage!
Our final destination for the 2024 vintage, Château Cissac in the Haut-Medoc, sometime around 4.00pm – weary, but looking forward to a tasting of classic claret from one of the most famous (In British drinkers eyes) Châteaux in the Haut-Medoc and a staple on dinner tables and cellars for many, many years. Here we tasted the full range of 2024 back to 2017, Laurent Saint Pasteur and Patrick Buleon wanting to show us why the lighter 2024 vintage could well surprise in a few year’s time, as we compared it to the very delicious 2017 vintage, another lighter, wetter and cooler vintage.
Wines tasted - 74 (including 5 wines at a delicious dinner with Francois Nony and his wife Marie- Hélène, previously of Chateau Caronne-Ste-Gemme).
Cissac done, we then started the long drive back into Bordeaux city, the Vintage 2024 UGC tastings complete. Much will be made of this vintage, and my colleagues John and Georgia Townend will update with all the wine notes, recommendations and analysis in due course, but for me, I enjoyed the tasting. 2024 will be remembered for a lightness of touch, where the skill and knowledge of the winemaker was matched by the sheer grit and hard work of the vineyard teams and pickers who managed to rescue what would have been, even just 10 years ago, a disaster.
2024 will also be remembered as a year when numbers mattered, but above all, despite the wealth of human skill and ingenuity, we have been reminded that growing grapes is still very much an agricultural product with an exact reliance on climate and nature.
Neil Goldie
Director
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