2025 is a vintage that defies easy summary, marked as much by its contradictions as by its successes. It is a good to very good year, with a number of truly outstanding wines. The finest examples show remarkable intensity – of perfume, fruit, structure and freshness – combined with lower-than-average alcohol, powdery tannins and impressive persistence. Pierre-Olivier Clouet of Cheval Blanc described the wines as ‘2010 without the alcohol’, while François Despagne of Grand Corbin Despagne described them as ‘contemporary Bordeaux in a classic style’. It’s a vintage that we believe members will love – one that provides wines of power, typicity, ageworthiness and modest alcohol levels.
It is a vintage in which excellent wines can be found across all communes and appellations, and, crucially, at every price level. However, 2025 is not universally great. At The Wine Society, we spend a number of weeks in the region, vineyards and wineries throughout the year in order to build a picture of the vintage, taste the wines, understand the growing season and, ultimately, select the wines that we believe members will love. This selection, following the release of the top wines, is the culmination of tasting hundreds of wines (often multiple times) across a number of weeks. We’re delighted that a number of Wine Society favourites have produced truly enthralling wines this year.
Still available early releases
These wines, offered as part of our early release, are still available to order
The wines
This offer will close at midday, Monday 27th July 2026
2025 is one of the warmest and driest vintages on record, yet paradoxically the wines do not taste hot, overripe or jammy. Instead, they display lift, purity and an attractive interplay of red and black fruit. Alcohol levels are moderate, typically half to one degree lower than in 2022, the last warm, high-quality vintage. Due to tiny berries and a resulting high skin-to-juice ratio, tannin levels are high almost across the board. Where these high tannins have not been properly managed, the wines can be austere and ungenerous – these wines will not feature in this offer. By contrast, those who have mastered their viticultural practices, harvest dates and extraction have produced genuinely breathtaking wines that offer immediate appeal yet possess the structure to age for decades.
While we believe the quality of the wines offered here to be unquestionable, one significant issue with 2025 was yield. With average yields around 30 hl/ha, some producers reported yields as low as 20–22 hl/ha. This is partly due to poor inflorescence in 2024, which set a low potential crop from the outset. Crucially, winter rains replenished water tables – something lacking in 2022 – and, while April showers occurred, there was minimal mildew pressure, unlike in 2024. Then, apart from showers on the left bank in June, Bordeaux endured a three-month drought, with multiple heatwaves including several days in excess of 40°C. Crucially, the nights were relatively cool, reducing evapotranspiration (i.e. the vines weren’t sweating) and helping to retain water despite the high temperatures.
In general, water-retentive soils such as limestone and clay performed better, alongside vineyards utilising water-retaining viticultural techniques such as cover crops. On the left bank, Saint-Julien was – as it so often is – the most consistent, showcasing plump fruit, sweet tannins and more structure than in vintages such as ’22, ’20 or ’19. The Pauillacs are classically framed, balancing power and poise with great energy and freshness; the best will age extremely well. We found Margaux the least consistent, but those offered here show appealing perfume and moderate weight – ideal for those looking for earlier-drinking reds. Saint-Estèphe benefited from the warm conditions and some summer rain to produce arguably the most surprising and profound wines of the vintage, with dense black-fruit and spice notes. The wines of Pessac-Léognan are typically medium-bodied, with fine, dusty tannins. On the right bank, those situated on limestone are exceptional, showing distinct minerality and tension. While Pomerol was more mixed, the best wines are powerful, rich and hedonistic.
The whites provide early-drinking appeal in a richer, softer style, with those containing a high proportion of semillon proving particularly successful. Finally, the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac show pronounced noble-rot character, with rich, unctuous profiles.
