15 Apr 2016

Bordeaux 2015 – the guide

Bordeaux 2015

5 February 2019 The vintage is reassessed via 261 wines in the annual Southwold blind tasting.

28 April 2016 Prices are starting to trickle out, as discussed in detail on our Members' forum. Prices in euros from the négociants are generally around 15% up on the 2014s, but considerably more for those paying in sterling. Hard facts about how rarely en primeur purchases have gained in value in recent years such as outlined in Bordeaux – which wines are worth buying en primeur? must be depressing demand. And this is not a short crop. On the other hand, this week's severe frosts look likely to have a shrinking effect on the Burgundy 2016 crop – a development the Bordelais may hope will help their 2015 primeurs campaign. I am told that demand is there in continental Europe.

On another note, I would urge you to take note not just of my scores, but my suggested drinking dates. With a few glorious exceptions, 2015 looks like a vintage that will drink well relatively early. Worth bearing in mind and correlating with any older vintages you may own? Particularly the 2005s and 2010s that are likely to last a very long time.

23 April 2016 Today I publish my overview of this vintage, based on having tasted almost 600 wines, some of them more than once. I'm so glad to be able to report enthusiastically about this vintage. Let us hope the Bordelais don't shoot themselves in the foot by overpricing it.

15 April 2016 On the day that we publish our first tasting article on 2015 bordeaux, we are republishing this guide and making it sticky until our coverage of this interesting vintage is complete. We will be publishing tasting notes on more than 600 2015 bordeaux this week and next.

10 March 2016 Jancis writes The hype over Bordeaux 2015 is building – even if cooled a little by parts of Bill Blatch's two-part report earlier this week. I see rather to may amazement that we have already published 11 articles about this vintage, so welcome in Bordeaux after a run of four much more difficult ones from 2011 onwards.

As requested by many Purple Pagers, I will be going to Bordeaux at the beginning of April to taste the primeurs samples, hoping they bear as close a relation to the finished goods as possible. We will assemble my tasting notes at a relatively leisurely pace and expect to publish them towards the end of the month. You may read other commentators' reports on the wines earlier than this but I really don't see there is any desperate hurry to provide the Bordeaux trade with any ammunition for price hikes. In fact I would prefer not to publish notes until the prices have been released but I do understand that our readers may want a steer earlier than this.

I realise that many wine collectors have steered clear of bordeaux for a few years and may be keen to return to the fray. But most of these wines are produced in considerable quantity and there should be more than enough wine to go round.

My thanks to Gavin Quinney for many images of the vintage, including this one of the 2015 harvest at Ch Lafite, and for his early reports on its progress. And of course to Bill Blatch for his detailed surveys.

GENERAL ARTICLES (most recently published first)

How do the last four Bordeaux vintages compare? (Free for all) 25 May 2019

Bordeaux 2015 re-assessed at Southwold-on-Thames (Free for all) 9 February 2019

What may go into Climens 2015 (Inside information) 29 Apr 2016

Bordeaux 2015 – the verdict (Free for all) 23 Apr 2016

Bordeaux 2015 – the logistics (Don't quote me) 12 Apr 2016

Bordeaux – which wines are worth buying en primeur? (Free for all) 9 Apr 2016

Bordeaux 2015 – the weather (Free for all) 31 Mar 2016

Blatch on Bordeaux 2015 – the wines (Free for all) 8 Mar 2016

Blatch on Bordeaux 2015 – the vines (Free for all) 7 Mar 2016

Bordeaux primeurs tastings shrunk (Free for all) 29 Jan 2016

Consumers prefer commentators to taste blind (Free for all) 12 Jan 2016