The 2025 Bordeaux En Primeur campaign has generated more questions than any vintage in recent memory—about quality, pricing, tariffs, and whether to buy now or wait. Here are the answers to the questions we're hearing most from collectors, with links to the full analysis where relevant.
I don't think Bordeaux 2025 compares to anything else, from the growing season to the En Primeur campaign. Harvests were as early as they've been since 1989 and yields were as low as they were in 1961. The solar vintage seemed to hint at 2022, but the result is something far more restrained. It's with these thoughts that I'd advise throwing all other vintage comparisons out the window and consider 2025 like this: there are a lot of remarkable wines that are very refreshing in style, complex in structure, and at prices that range from sharp to can't miss.
When speaking of Bordeaux, Graves and Pessac-Léognan are often left out of the conversation when discussing the Left Bank/Right Bank divide. This is a glaring omission. Some of the region's best wines and values can be found here—and in 2025, the appellation delivered at every level, from the grand crus to the everyday drinking wines, and from the reds to what may be the finest dry whites of the entire campaign.
2025 Bordeaux is one of the strongest vintages in recent memory, released at prices that may not last. The campaign is winding down, larger formats are going first, and the best allocations are already moving. Here is how to make sure you don't miss it.
Where the Left Bank impressed with structure and precision, the Right Bank was about texture. We spent the first half of our trip across the Médoc and Pessac-Léognan, and the wines were stunning. But the moment we crossed to the Right Bank, the whole character of the vintage shifted under our feet. Where the usual suspects of the Haut-Médoc and the Graves showed depth and promise, the Merlot- and Cabernet Franc-dominated wines of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol gave us something more generous—silky, expressive wines layered with minerality.
The 2025 Left Bank delivered across all four major appellations—but not uniformly, and not in the way recent vintages have prepared us for. Pauillac produced wines of extraordinary density off half the usual crop. Saint-Julien was the steadiest appellation of the entire campaign, top to bottom. Margaux, rescued by sixty millimeters of rain at exactly the right moment, was the appellation of the vintage. And Saint-Estèphe's clay gave the commune a tension the south had to chase. Here is what we found.
If you asked me to describe my perfect Bordeaux vintage, I'd say good concentration, purity, freshness, with moderate levels of alcohol. Balance and full ripeness, but with a sense of weightlessness and texture. That is very nearly exactly what 2025 delivered.
This is a fascinating time for Bordeaux. The wines are as good as they have ever been, and pricing for many releases has fallen to levels that remind us of campaigns from a decade ago. Few regions in the world can offer this combination of pedigree, quality, ageability, and value.
K&L's Team Bordeaux has sampled the 2018 vintage in bottle and their first reports are glowing. In today's blog, they've provided their notes on the exceptional wines from St-Julien, one of the standouts of the vintage. Many of these bottles are available on pre-arrival.
Read MoreWhile many others have made resolutions to exercise more and diet this January, I have decided to set my sights firmly on routine. I am not going to be skipping my steak and claret on Fridays. It is a big commitment—but I think I am up to the task.
Read MoreK&L's Bordeaux Guru Clyde Beffa introduces us to a bunch of new-old wines on our shelves (some are new-new, as in young). You don't have to be a longtime collector or invest a lot of money to try mature Bordeaux! Check out why it's one of the longest-lived, most complex wines in the world.
Read MoreWe’re beginning the new year by taking a look at new arrivals from one of our favorite categories: Bordeaux! Co-owner/Bordeaux Buyer Clyde Beffa introduces us to the wines—some with age, some still babies—that will soon be landing on our shelves. Whether you’re looking to collect bottles from celebrated vintages, like the 100-point 2009 Pontet-Canet; looking for great values from older vintages that are hitting their sweet spot now, like the 1996 du Val d’Or from St-Emilion; or just looking for an excellent to bottle for dinner tonight, like the 2016 Bellegrave du Poujeau—we’ve got something for you in these pages. After 45 years in the biz, Clyde never steers us wrong, and this new batch definitely won’t disappoint!
Read MoreThis past Friday night my wife, Cinnamon, treated me to a lovely steak and claret dinner at home. She prepared a prime top sirloin in the cast iron pan, her excellent empress rice, and also served some wok-fried green beans. I decanted the 1998 Haut-Franquet Moulis to go with it. I woke up inspired to write about it—it was a great experience…
Read MoreWhether you’ll be spinning a dreidel, rockin’ around the Christmas tree, lighting the Kwanzaa candles, or simply enjoying Winter Solstice, we have something that can make your celebration special, and, though the times were strange in 2020, the wines were superb.
Read MoreCarbonnieux is an estate with Medieval origins in Bordeaux, and 20th-century origins at K&L. We’ve been stocking them for a long time, and that’s because we’re epic fans. And we’re not the only ones—even noted oenophile Thomas Jefferson once made a visit to their cellars. They also continually provide Clyde with excellent Bordeaux Blanc, and this installment of Clyde’s corner is all about a few of his faves.
Read MoreThe barometer has dropped a few notches, and we’re inching toward the holiday season—it’s the perfect time of year to reach for the exquisite wines of our beloved Bordeaux! While we can’t be in the wine aisle with you chatting up our favorite wines of the year, our Bordeaux experts are very excited to share some of the treasures we have on our shelves. From new arrivals to perennial fan favorites, Clyde and crew have Bordeaux picks to get you through the rest of 2020.
Read MoreBordeaux 2019 is a campaign for the history books, with en primeur happening mid-quarantine in the comfort of everyone’s own home instead of in Bordeaux. Luckily, the wines are very good and the prices are even better. The only downside, according to Clyde, is that we don’t have enough of it!
Read MoreSometimes the parts are better than the sum… 2002 is not a favorite vintage for Clyde, with little faith in the Cabernet that came from the cooler/uneven temperatures that year. But in the 2002 Coufran, a Merlot-dominant blend, he’s found a diamond in the rough.
Read MoreIn our next Club Francais, we’ll be featuring the 2000 de Viaud from Lalande de Pomerol, so Clyde took the occasion to revisit a bottle of the 2003 from the estate. This was a controversial vintage in Bordeaux—a warm year with some hits and some misses—so I was curious how the wine would taste 17 years down the line. But Clyde lives by the credo of finding the best wines in under-rated vintages for the best values, and he’s king at picking out the good ones.
Read MoreAll the chips were stacked against Bordeaux being able to pull off an En Primeur campaign. If prices were less than astounding,there would have been no chance to even get off the starting block. Then Pontet-Canet got a potential 100-point review from Wine Advocate, dropped their price by 30%…
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