Bordeaux 2023: The Clos Report
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- Опубліковано 2 сер 2024
- Read Dominic's full Bordeaux 2023 report here: issuu.com/closfinewine/docs/b...
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Clos Fine Wine's Dominic Brennan introduces the Bordeaux 2023 vintage, now being offered 'en primeur' across the world, giving an overview of the growing conditions, the state of the market, and offering his top picks.
00:00 - Bordeaux 2023 - The Rhythm of Life
01:00 - 1. An introduction to the vintage
01:57 - 2. The growing season
07:49 - 3. How good is the vintage?
17:15 - 4. En primeur and the economic climate: Prices down?
27:16 - 5. My picks of the vintage
38:06 - 6. My conclusion
Hi Dominic, just wanted to say thanks for an epic report of the vintage! Love the quality, depth and transparency. As a swede it will be hard to support your business by buying from you but I hope a comment and a cheer here at least can give something in this algorithm driven era.
Thank you very much for your very kind words, they mean a lot! I hope to have some more content very soon!
Wish you would make more videos as the quality is high and these videos would help promote your business too
Thank you, John, that's very kind of you to say so! Thank you for taking the time to watch the video and to leave a comment. I hope to start making more videos as you suggest to provide more regular insight, beginning with a short video on Ch. Pontet Canet 2023 this week. I just need to balance the main aim for me: selling wine! If everyone who watched my videos could buy wine from Clos then that would be ideal...!
great video! best Ive seen on the campaign so far
This is very kind of you @samejia4 - thanks for taking the time to both watch it and to comment so warmly!
Great video. Thx
Many thanks for taking the time to leave a such a kind comment!
Thank you for a great summary Dominic!
Very kind of you, Duncan. Thank you for taking the time to watch it and comment!
if mildew was an major issue and it absolutely was and vintage ended up with abundance of harvest, I can only imagine amount of chemicals that went into grapes…
Hi @Ruirspirul, thank you for leaving a comment on, and watching my video! You make a really important point - mildew was abundant and disease pressure was extremely high, higher still for those who practise organic or biodynamic viticulture, which forbids the use of chemicals.
In reality, like a 90s Britpop artist, Bordeaux châteaux have really cleaned up their act in the last twenty years, and particularly across the past ten. There is general consensus that the era or pesticides and industrial agronomic chemicals was hugely damaging for the soil, which was then bad for the vine. Whether fully organic or biodynamic (and I'd imagine that a overwhelming majority of classified properties are at the very least practising the former), there is a holistic approach to looking after the soils and vines, encouraging biodiversity: Le Coteau in Margaux is an excellent example of encouraging flora and fauna with their project to create a habitat for so-called lone bees. There are also strict appellation rules now on what can and can't be used on grapes, so from a legislative point of view, the over-bearing AOC ruling bodies do have your best interests at heart!
So, to conclude, and I have no reason to tow any made up party line from the Bordealais, my experience of Bordeaux and especially 2023, is one that encourages organic viticulture and then uses careful sorting in the winery to ensure only healthy, fully ripe grapes go into the wines, so I think you can buy with confidence on that front! Dominic
Great video Dominic. I thoroughly enjoyed, and appreciated, your presentation style.
Hi Dominic, really liked your video on the 22 campaign so was looking forward to your views on the 23s. Great video! Transparant and objective, this really helps with decisionmaking in regards to buying strategy.
What’s your take on the quality of the 22s, have you had a chance to taste them preciously?
It kind of bothers me that now all you seem tohear is that they are overpriced as to where last year it was announced as the stellar year of the century and worth every penny! Now the 22s are an unspoken topic somehow.
Is 23 equally as good as 22 or do you think 22 is really a standout vintage?
Hi @wmvangemeren, thank you very much for taking the time to watch my video and leave a comment! You make a great point about the 22s. I referenced in my video on the 2023 vintage that whilst the vintage was very good indeed, the pricing was on the whole pretty awful, with châteaux relying on both négociants AND clients taking up their allocations regardless of price as the quality was so good.
That, ultimately didn't happen and so we saw merchants and négoce left with stock (albeit very, very good wine!), and so that in part is why, I think, prices are down so much this year, another poorly priced campaign would be damaging, perhaps fatally, to the entire primeurs machine.
Some of the top reviewers talk in glowing terms about the 2022 vintage as one that follows on from excellent 2016, 2019, 2020. For me (what do I know!) its very good, but not superb. However, on the whole I'd say its a nose ahead of 2023 for me. Obviously that oversimplifies things, as there are truly 'great' wines in both vintages.
I spoke to commercial directors about the damage that pricing the 2023 wines much lower than the 2022s would do to the market value of 2022s but the general reaction was one of a shrug. It is a shame because the 2022s are super, but for those treating them as assets, there will be some settling of prices - naturally if you take your 2023 allocations too, then net you're likely going to be 'up' in a couple of years across both vintages, but in not taking the 2023s as a protest vote against the overpricing of the 2022s, clients are more likely to double down on any loss and miss the opportunity to see some serious portfolio appreciation. Between a rock and a hard place, then!