Nathan Wilson
07/05/2026
Strong Critic Scores, Low Production & Improving Value
For the first time in several years, Bordeaux feels genuinely interesting again, not because the market is booming or because buyers are suddenly throwing money at every release. Quite the opposite.
What makes Bordeaux 2025 En Primeur compelling is that it arrives into a market that has become far more disciplined, selective and price-sensitive. That matters because it is forcing châteaux to do something Bordeaux has struggled with for years which is pricing wines realistically.
When realistic pricing meets strong critic scores, low production and improving value against back vintages, genuine wine investment opportunities begin to emerge. That is exactly what appears to be happening with Bordeaux 2025.
The headline theme from critics this year is balance.
Despite one of the hottest and driest growing seasons Bordeaux has seen in decades, the best wines are showing freshness, structure and restraint rather than excessive ripeness. Alcohol levels are generally sitting around 12.5% – 13.5%, noticeably lower than many expected given the conditions.
Critics have repeatedly highlighted the precision of the vintage rather than sheer power.
Jane Anson described the best wines as “extremely impressive”, while William Kelley’s early barrel scores placed several estates at 98–100 points, including:
Meanwhile, Colin Hay at The Drinks Business awarded Château Lafite Rothschild a perfect 100-point score, calling it the standout Left Bank wine of the vintage. Mouton Rothschild followed closely behind at 98–100 points.
That level of critic support matters enormously in the world of wine investment. The fine wine market has become increasingly selective, and high scores continue to drive long-term liquidity and international demand.
What makes Bordeaux 2025 even more interesting is the size of the crop. This is not just a strong vintage, it is an extremely small one.
Several reports suggest that Bordeaux 2025 is the smallest vintage in more than 30 years. At estate level, the numbers become even more striking. Cheval Blanc produced just 55,000 bottles in 2025, compared to 128,000 bottles in 2023.
Yield levels across Bordeaux averaged roughly 30 hectolitres per hectare, with some top estates dramatically lower:
For context, many leading Bordeaux estates would normally target considerably higher yields. This matters because low production naturally tightens long-term supply. In fine wine, scarcity is one of the most powerful drivers of future value and importantly, this scarcity is arriving at a moment where release pricing is finally becoming more attractive.
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For years, the biggest issue with En Primeur was not quality, it was value. Buyers became increasingly frustrated paying release prices that sat above physically available back vintages already trading on the market. That dynamic damaged confidence in Bordeaux.
This year feels different.
Several major estates appear to have recognised that the market has changed. Cheval Blanc 2025 released at around £2,010 per six bottles in bond, with an ex-négociant price of €336 per bottle. More importantly, merchants noted that the 2025 release sits below the average pricing of recent comparable vintages on the secondary market. That changes the investment conversation completely.
If buyers can secure highly rated wines below comparable back vintages, En Primeur suddenly starts making sense again and that is precisely what Bordeaux needed.
One of the defining characteristics of the modern fine wine market is how analytical buyers have become. Nobody purchases En Primeur in isolation anymore.
Every release is being compared directly against physical vintages already available in the market, particularly 2016, 2019, 2020 and 2022. This is forcing producers into much greater pricing discipline.
Interestingly, several critics have already compared Bordeaux 2025 favourably against recent strong vintages. Jane Anson suggested the vintage sits comfortably ahead of 2017, 2021 and 2024, while approaching the quality levels of 2015 and 2019.
That is significant because both 2015 and 2019 have performed strongly within the fine wine market over time.
The most important aspect of Bordeaux 2025 is not hype, it is positioning.
The market is cautious, buyers are disciplined and expectations are lower than they were during the boom years. Historically, those conditions often create the strongest long-term investment opportunities because ultimately, returns in fine wine are heavily influenced by entry price.
If Bordeaux 2025 delivers:
then the long-term outlook becomes extremely compelling. Especially if broader market confidence improves over the next several years.
Bordeaux 2025 is not shaping up to be a hype-driven campaign and frankly, that may be exactly why it matters.
The combination of:
is creating one of the most compelling wine investment environments Bordeaux has offered in years.
For collectors, the vintage offers freshness, precision and ageing potential and for investors, it may offer something even more important. A realistic opportunity to buy top Bordeaux at the right price again.
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13 May 2026
