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Surprisingly, this heterogeneity is also reflected in the critics' scores and rankings, with no single vintage achieving a real consensus and establishing itself as “the bottle of the year”.

The disparity of opinions is such that even when the podiums (3 best scores) of 7 eminent tasters are compiled, 4 French and 3 American (vinous.com + The Wine Advocate), only one Bordeaux 2023 obtains a narrow majority, being cited 4 times out of 7: Lafleur in Pomerol.

A perfect example of this disparity in Saint-Estèphe between Montrose and Cos d'Estournel :

• Neal Martin (vinous) prefers Montrose (96-98/100) to Cos d'Estournel (94-96/100)
• Antonio Galloni (vinous) prefers Cos d'Estournel (96-98/100) to Montrose (95-97/100)

• La Revue du Vin de France prefers Montrose (97-98/100) to Cos d'Estournel (95-97/100)
• Michel Bettane (En Magnum) prefers Cos d'Estournel (97-98/100) to Montrose (94-95/100), placing Montrose behind Phélan-Ségur and on a par with Calon-Ségur and Haut-Marbuzet.

Once again, Peter Sisseck's wines occupy the top positions:

• Pingus : 98-100/100 in 2022, 100/100 in 2021

For almost 30 years, Peter Sisseck's wines have been an undeniable (and worldwide) success, to the extent that his wines are hard to find after bottling and should preferably be reserved as futures.

Today, the only vintage available is the bottled P.S.I. 2021, and only in bottle.
On the other hand, you can reserve all three wines as futures: P.S.I., Flor and Pingus 2023, in bottles as in magnums.

- 4 bottles (75 cl)
- 2 magnums (150 cl)
- 1 double magnum (300 cl)

In addition, this original case is available for both the second wine and the grand vin :

There's a question that keeps recurring this year: where to place 2023 in the chorus of great recent Bordeaux vintages?

For white Bordeaux, the ranking of 2023 is clear:

- A really great vintage for dry whites, topping the podium with 2021,

- Great vintage for sweet whites, on a par with 2016.

For red Bordeaux, all the critics rank 2023 among the great vintages, such as the Revue du Vin de France: "Bordeaux has produced another fine vintage which will fit in perfectly with the series which began ten years ago".

To give you a clearer idea of where 2023 stands in relation to its peers, here is the ranking of the best vintages based on the number of exceptional vintages (i.e. those that merit a score of between 98 and 100/100) according to Antonio Galloni (vinous.com):

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7th week (10 to 14 June): LATEST BORDEAUX

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6th week (3 to 7 June): AT A GOOD PACE

Once again, a week packed with great names, to the extent that several appellations are now fully booked (Margaux, Saint-Julien, Pauillac and Rive Droite/Libournais):

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5th week (27 to 31 May): VINEXPO HONG KONG

It's a very quiet week, with the top of Bordeaux export merchants and grands crus travelling to Vinexpo, held this year in Hong Kong from 28 to 30 May, after a six-year absence (the 2020 and 2022 editions were cancelled).
 
Here are the handful of crus which, less concerned by the Asian markets, offered their 2023s this week:

4th week (20 to 24 May): ON THE MOVE

Another week of "Primeurs 2023", following on from the previous one, with 34 new vintages:

3rd week (13 to 17 May): BUSY WEEK

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2nd week encore (10 May): ASCENSION BREAK

Two producers from outside Bordeaux took advantage of the Ascension break to offer their 2023s. These are two outstanding producers who have been part of our range for over 25 years and who, in our opinion, are among the most remarkable in terms of quality and the most consistent in terms of price.

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Tardieu-Laurent

All in all, the 2023 vintage is just as heterogeneous in the Rhône Valley as it is in Bordeaux:

• northern red wines. The Syrahs are in the same spirit as those of 2016: alcoholic balance around 13°, aromas of ripe fruit (more blackcurrant than raspberry), round tannins and, above all, a pleasant sensation of freshness on the finish. This is a magnificent Côte-Rôtie V.V. that will keep for a long time.

• southern red wines. Grape varieties: Grenache is the success story of the vintage, followed by Syrah, which is more precocious in the south and suffered little from the late heat wave. Terroir: the southern part of Châteauneuf, the Crau plain, really suffered from the heatwave at the end of August, forcing Tardieu-Laurent to change its blends, this year favouring the northern part of the appellation (Rayas, Courthézon). The 2023s from the southern part of the appellation are also on a par with the 2016s, with the addition of some fantastic Grenache with intense fruit (the special Côtes du Rhône and Châteauneuf du Pape cuvées are 100% Grenache).

• Provencal red wine. Thanks to its immediate proximity to the Mediterranean, the Bandol vineyards escaped the consequences of the heatwave at the end of August. The Mourvèdre grapes benefited greatly from the regular heat of the summer to produce a great 2023, eminently taut and refined, which is also destined for long cellaring.

For both whites and reds, Tardieu-Laurent's prices are virtually unchanged (less than 1% increase compared to 2022), and we are mainly proposing their Vieilles Vignes cuvées, which are certainly the key to success (outside the great terroirs) in the 2023 vintage:

- Tardieu-Laurent northern red wines 2023 : Crozes-Hermitage VV, Saint-Joseph VV, Cornas et Cornas VV, Côte-Rôtie VV, Hermitage,

- Tardieu-Laurent southern red wines 2023 : Côtes du Rhône cuvée Spéciale, Rasteau VV, Vacqueyras VV, Gigondas VV, Châteauneuf du Pape VV et Châteauneuf du Pape cuvée Spéciale,

- Tardieu-Laurent provencal red wine 2023 : Bandol.

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Dominio de Pingus
(+Bodegas Alnardo)

In Ribera del Duero, 2023 was another very hot, dry year, in line with the vintages seen since 2015. The rainfall in June gave the soils good water reserves, perfect for coping with the summer drought.
 
The grapes ripened very early in August, heralding an early harvest. For the first time, harvesting began at Flor de Pingus on 8 September before Pingus. They ended at both PSI and Pingus on 23 September, while many Ribera del Duero vineyards had not begun harvesting and subsequently had to contend with much less favourable weather conditions (dilution of the grapes, appearance of rot, etc.).

• Dominio de Pingus. Peter Sisseck told us that in 2023 he experienced the easiest fermentations he can remember, with very fine aromas, fresh, pure, with no reduction, and moderate alcohol levels: 13.8° for Flor and 14.0° for Pingus. Although he admits that Flor is the more charming of the two, Peter Sisseck is particularly proud of his Pingus 2023, "easily one of the best wines we have made".

• Bodegas Alnardo. For the PSI, Peter Sisseck was very pleased to be able to use the Tribaie density sorting system in 2023, which automatically controls ripeness on a grape-by-grape basis. Although it has a lower alcohol content (13.5°) than Pingus and Flor, PSI 2023 shows real maturity, with the addition of 8% Grenache contributing to the mellowness and depth on the palate. Year after year, PSI has established itself as a great wine in its own right within the Ribera del Duero (at a very affordable price).

Here are Peter Sisseck's 3 wines, with prices strictly unchanged from last year, plus the possibility this year of reserving Pingus and Flor de Pingus in magnum:

- Ribera del Duero red 2023 : PSI, Flor de Pingus et Pingus.

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2nd week (6 to 7 May): A VERY SHORT WEEK

1st week (29 April to 3 May): KICK-OFF

The ‘Primeurs 2023’ campaign is set to be a fast-paced, dynamic affair, with all the crus set to offer their 2023s by the beginning of June, in just 5 weeks.

The proof is in this first week, with some very famous classified growths already on the board: