Primeurs Wine Reviews 2024
Maître de Cave presents its Primeurs Wine Reviews 2024. Our peek at our reviews of the 2024 Bordeaux after our 9 days of tasting and judging wines in and among the Wine Appellations surrounding Bordeaux.
Three quality levels
Our “Peek” offers the count of wines that, in our assessment, achieved one of the three quality levels to which we ascribe recognition – Exceptional (96-100/100 points), Outstanding (91-95/100 points), and Fine (86-90/100 points. This “Peek” also includes a list of the wines with the scores we awarded. You can preview our wines scores, from the exceptional to the fine, according to their category – Dry White Wines, Sweet White Wines, and Red Wines. Or, we also provide an alphabetical listing of the wines we tasted with the points we awarded.
So many quality wines
There are so many exceptional Wines from the Primeur Tastings in Bordeaux from 10 -18 April. last 2 weeks of April 2024. The quantity of Exceptional Wines from the 2024 vintage has decreased from 44 wines – 7 dry white wines, 1 sweet white wine, and 36 red wines – to 35 – 4 dry white wines, 1 sweet white wine, and 30 red wines – a decrease of 9 wines or nearly 20%. As always, MAitre de Cave team refers to its specific scoring.
Scoring System
Our specific scoring is based on a 100-point scale. The wines that score from :
- 96 – 100 are Exceptional with the potential to cellar extensively and to improve greatly with additional age
- 90 – 95 are Outstanding with the potential to cellar extensively and to improve with the additional age
- 85 – 89 are Fine wines with the occasional potential to cellar and to improve with the additional age
- 80 – 88 are Satisfactory with a limited potential to improve with additional age.
It is important to remember that wine scores are not subject to a classroom bell curve adjustment. The score for any individual wine is not rated according to a sense of relative quality. Just because a wine is better than another wine: it does not make it exceptional, outstanding, or even fine. There is not a certain number of Exceptional Wines, Outstanding Wines, or Fine Wines each vintage. The scoring scale does not vary up or down according to a simple relative quality of wines or of a particular vintage.
Professional Tasters judge wines according to a Platonic sense of Absolute Excellence and degrees of Absolute Excellence. The best wine in the vintage is not necessarily an Exceptional Wine. It is only the best wine of the vintage. Every vintage has its best wine, better wines, good wines, and lesser wines. The “Best Wine” of a vintage has importance only as a side note during a discussion of its essential quality.
Specifically, the Exceptional Wines of the 2024 vintage have great intensity and great complexity. They have moderate ABVs with silken textures, fine mouthfeel, and an abundance of aromas and flavors. They exude complexity and concentration on both the nose and palate. The Exceptional Wines have great length, universal balance, refined complexity, and an unending finish.
Please enjoy our scores. The reviews will appear in batches as we finish each category.
Quality Primeurs Wine Reviews
In 2025, we tasted almost the same number of wines that we tasted in 2024, about 410, and the average score is approximately the same, approximately 91.7/100. So, neither of the variables, quantity of wines tasted nor the average score, impacted the results from either the 2024 or the 2023 vintage. The reason there are fewer Exceptional Wines is that the 2024 vintage is not as exceptional as the 2023. The best vintage 2023 wines are better – greater complexity, nuance, and harmony – and they achieved higher scores, than the 2024 vintage. Most importantly there were more 2023 vintage wines that achieved an exceptional level of quality.
Controversial vintage
Our overall assessment of the 2024 wines is that the vintage is controversial. There are many exceptional wines produced by the finest houses, but there were no wines we tasted that qualified as a 99 or 100 point wine. In fact, for the first time since we began writing our blog, we removed wines from this report because their scores were insufficient.
So, pick and choose wisely. Listen to the advice of those who have already tasted these wines. Better yet, if you have a chance to attend a primeur tasting, do so. There are many value wines that performed with outstanding quality. There are even a few that achieved an exceptional review. A truly important thing to remember is that one never buys a vintage. One always buys wines. You will be able to find fine, extraordinary, and exceptional wines among those of the 2024 vintage. Many of the wines from this vintage will be drinkable in the near future. The opportunity to buy outstanding wines at extremely low prices and drink them in the near future is exceptional. These wines will supply your dinner table while you wait for the 2009, 2010, 2015, 2018, 2020, and 2022 vintages to achieve greater maturity and better drinkability. We would recommend that one should invest in this vintage for two important reasons:
- Primeurs Prices will drop significantly for the 2024 vintage because the majority opinion is that it is an inferior vintage
- Even in an inferior vintages there are exceptional wines.
One will be able to buy the best wines from the 2024 vintage at a significant discount, probably between 30% and 35%.
Read our Vintage Report
It will review all of the weather, disease, fungus, and mold factors that played such a key role in limiting both the quality and quantity of wines produced in this vintage