"This is an immensely consumer-friendly vintage: it’s good now; it will be good tomorrow; and it will be good in 20 years." - William Kelley, Wine Advocate
"The waiting is the hardest part." - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Fortunately for Bordeaux fans, Tom Petty's famous wisdom doesn't apply to the 2023 vintage (with a few exceptions), because as William Kelley so aptly puts it, the 2023s are some of the most pleasurable, charming, and crowd-pleasing wines of the past several vintages. Sure there are tons of outstanding collectible wines in the vintage, as well as tons of stupendous values and hidden gems, and for those of us who are anxious to get a look at what 2023 has to offer right now, these wines will give it to you. Our latest direct-import container arrived loaded with killer offerings at every price point, so Bordeaux collectors of all stripes can stock up and get their fix while they wait for famously powerhouse vintages like 2018, 2020, and 2022 to reach more enjoyable form.
In terms of serious bang for the buck, it's hard to top the double 96-point Haut-Bages Liberal, "an extremely elegant Pauillac that leans into the approachability of the vintage with juiciness and mass appeal," or the "serious and impeccably made" Lagrange, which notched 95 points from just about everyone. The "super-classic" 98-point Lynch-Bages and the 99-point Pontet Canet add to their reputations as two of the finest collectible steals on the market, the former bearing "soft contours and tons of energy" and the latter standing as "one of the wines of the vintage" according to Jane Anson.
Of course, the blue-chip icons also shine like diamonds in 2023. The "outrageously great" 100-point Figeac is on pace to stand above all other Right Bank competitors, perhaps only rivaled by the WA100 Cheval Blanc, which William Kelley calls "one of the most compelling wines of the vintage." On the Left Bank, "stunning is the word" for the 99-point Pichon Comtesse, while its stablemate Pichon Baron notched a slew of accolades for its "synthesis of classical identity and seductive charm." Finally, the utterly perfect Haut-Brion hit the stratosphere again, showing why this is indeed a vintage for First Growth collectors. A trio of 99-point scores accompany Jane Anson's triple digits. "It’s a wine you can fall instantly in love with," declares Decanter's Georgina Hindle, "First class, with perfect ripeness. A long way to go, but still so easy to drink." Finally, the most serious collectors won't want to miss "a model of modern Sauternes" in the AG100 Suduiraut (bet you thought we'd say d'Yquem). That's right - this "a timeless wine is among the most notable successes of the year," and we have it in multiple formats at outstanding pricing.
These are just a few of the highlights of what are simply too many vintage stars to list individually, so astute Bordeaux fans will want to settle in, take a deep dive, and start making room in their cellars, as everything here is in stock and ready to rock.
With 153 grams per liter of residual sugar—placing it among the 10 most concentrated vintages in the château’s history—the 2023 d'Yquem ranks among the finest wines bottled here under Lorenzo Pasquini’s direction. It unfurls from the glass with a complex, vibrant and remarkably pure bouquet of pineapple, guava, mango, confit citrus, beeswax and spices. Full-bodied, dense and concentrated, it combines formidable depth with perfectly judged control, built around a fleshy core of fruit, framed by lively acidity and a crystalline texture and culminating in an endless, refined and ethereal finish. Yquem’s natural power is here masterfully harnessed by the vintage’s freshness and tension, revealing an aesthetic of precision and vibrancy encountered only in the estate’s greatest years—made all the more remarkable by the fact that the château now achieves even higher levels of concentration than a decade ago, without any perceptible increase in sweetness on the palate.
100 points, Yohan Castaing, Wine Advocate (Mar 2026)
Perfect aromas carry through to every milliliter of this wine, showing intense orange peel, honey, butterscotch, saffron, smoke and peat, with hints of coffee and dried apples. Full-bodied but weightless and silky, with an excellent balance of fruit, sweetness and spices. Some peanut brittle, dried oranges and lemons at the end. I can’t get over how wonderful this is now, but it can age forever. 154 g/L residual sugar. Drink or hold.
100 points, James Suckling (Dec 2025)
Power, freshness, depth, after the extremes of 2021 and 2022, this walks the line between the two, exceptional, mandarin, quince, mirabelle plums, white truffle, fresh fruit and confit fruit, a vibration of slate and steel, opulent but slices closed on the finish. The botrytis came early and quickly in 2023. Francis Mayeur in final vintage as consultant, after many years as inhouse winemaking team, Lorenzo Pasquini director. 154g/l residual sugar, 3.85ph, harvest September 14 to October 11.
100 points, Jane Anson (Feb 2026)
The 2023 Yquem, a blend of 70% Sémillon and 30% Sauvignon Blanc, contains 154 grams per litre of residual sugar—less than the 2022. As usual, the 2023 was matured in 100% new oak, mainly French, with a small percentage from Austria. The nose is so seductive that it should come with a warning sticker. Pure and mellow, it offers beguiling scents of wild honey, quince jelly, almond shavings and that signature hint of saffron destined to accentuate with age. It displays wonderful definition, though it does not have the “aromatic drama” of the previous vintage. The palate has exquisite balance and poise that belies the depth of this Yquem, though it is less exuberant, less ostentatious than the 2022. It is really the umami sensation that defines the 2023, how it caresses, almost soothes the grateful taste buds, vanilla and flecks of white chocolate lingering on the aftertaste. This will probably drink a little sooner than the 2022. If the 2023 does have a fault, it’s that it is so flattering in its flush of youth that it will be difficult to resist. Sublime.
99 points, Neal Martin, Vinous (Mar 2026)
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