Press Release – En Primeurs Week 2023 Vintage

With spring just around the corner, the members of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux are getting ready to unveil the exciting 2023 vintage during En Primeur week, from Monday 22 to Thursday 25 April 2024.

A unique system in the wine world and an unmissable annual event in the Bordeaux vineyards, En Primeur week allows key industry players to taste the latest vintage from the local great growths before purchasing it.

For the occasion, over 5,000 visitors from around 50 countries will travel to the vineyards and châteaux to assess the full potential of the 2023 vintage still ageing in barrel.

While it waits patiently to reveal itself, Ronan Laborde, President of the UGCB, invites us to discover how this “brilliant, lively and generous” vintage unfolded.

This early-ripening vintage benefited from conditions that were highly propitious to the abundant and regular development of the grapes. Summer began with alternating periods of rainfall and sunshine, stimulating vegetative growth, before almost heatwave-like conditions set in at the end of the season, “boosting” the ripeness of the grapes.

The first to be harvested, the dry white wine grapes are incredibly fresh and exude wonderful aromas. Red wines from the Médoc to Libourne are generally dark-coloured and offer a marvellous combination of brilliance and softness. Meanwhile, the sweet white wines of the Sauternes benefited from clement conditions, resulting in a promising harvest.

This 2023 vintage kept winegrowers on their toes but had a happy epilogue, marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux.