Wine merchants are offering Bordeaux en primeur at this time of year, but how can you tell what is going to be a good wine 10 years from now? Martin Tickle, fine wine buyer for Jeroboams, offers his advice
Founded by Peter Rich, Jeroboams opened in 1985 with the first shop in South Kensington
If you enjoy fine wines, you know what is good after a decade or so, but how do you assess wine when it is not yet at its best? If you’re invited to an en primeur tasting (wine that is purchased while still ageing in barrels), or even the latest released vintage, how do you decide what to buy in cases? Martin Tickle, fine wine buyer at Jeroboams, has some very good advice, using 2025 Domaine de Chevalier red and white as illustration…
Have a glass of water to hand to reset your palate between wines
‘I don’t think it makes a massive difference if it’s still or sparkling but the latter is perhaps a bit more refreshing for the palate.’
Taste red before white
‘The acidity of white wine is higher, and if you drink white first and move to red, it does strange things in your mouth and it’s hard to assess the red wine. It’s different to when you actually drink and enjoy wines – that’s usually with food, which changes things.’
Don’t taste blind
‘It’s difficult to assess potential if you taste blind. Knowing how a chateau has performed in the past – for example, there are Domaine de Chevalier wines from the 1980s, or even earlier, that are still great now. I try to connect and compare to the same wines from previous vintages, which helps give you a fuller picture.’
Do your research
‘At the point that you’re buying en primeur, the wine trade and specialist critics have all tasted them and a consensus will have been built up. For some reason, years ending in “5” are good for Bordeaux – 2015 was a great vintage and 2025 had similar growing conditions so there’s a buzz this year. But it’s important to find critics whose tastes are similar to yours, because individuals have subjective preferences, too.’
Compare it with wines from a similar vintage in the past
‘The 2015 is a good indication of where the 2025 will go. Bright cherry juice has turned to dark cherry pulp; you can no longer taste tannins, but you can feel them as structure. There are dried fruit notes and other secondary flavours, such as a hint of truffle, that have developed over the 10 years. It suggests the 2025 will go the same way, which is promising.’
Look for colour
‘At this stage, you’re simply looking for a deep and bright red colour, with no hints of brown. There shouldn’t be oxidation on a wine this young. If there is, particularly in a hot year, as 2025 was, that’s a sign that perhaps they picked too late or grapes were damaged when they came in. Micro-oxidation after some years in the bottle is a different matter. The Domaine de Chevalier red has a very nice, bright, deep colour that you would hope from a young red wine. And the depth of colour tells you they extracted enough tannins to allow long ageing. It’s not going to be an insipid wine.’
Colour is important for whites too
‘The Domaine de Chevalier white is a lovely golden colour. Again, you don’t want any hint of brown from oxidation, or paleness, which would suggest it was picked too early.’
Concentrate on a coldly critical appraisal at first
‘You’re not necessarily tasting for pleasure at this point; you’re assessing whether it’s correct. You’re almost looking for what’s not there… is there anything faulty with this wine? You’re appraising there’s nothing sort of musty, there’s nothing that gives any kind of suggestion of rot or anything unclean from the grapes. This has good, clean fruitiness to it.’
Martin Tickle, fine wine buyer for Jeroboams
Then look for an overall impression of character
‘The Domaine de Chevalier has pure, clean, crunchy fruit. If it had smelled more stewed or jammy at this early stage, you’d be worried that maybe they’d picked a bit later than was ideal. But this is juicy. And no hints of bitterness – so, although they extracted enough colour and tannin from the skins, they were not rough with pressing, breaking pips.’
Assess the quantity and quality of tannins in a red
‘As I swirl this wine around my mouth, I can feel the drying sensation I’m looking for, but they are not aggressive tannins. There will be more tannins than in a mature wine, but they still shouldn’t be extremely astringen
For white wines, you’re looking for good acidity first
‘That is what gives a white wine structure and longevity. The level of acidity won’t change much with age, so if it’s not there, it’s not going to last the long haul. As long as it’s not overwhelming, acidity will be balanced out as the fruit flavours develop.’
Then, look for purity of fruit, as with a red
‘You want fresh citrus, ripe orchard fruit. But beyond that, if you’re tasting cooked or tinned fruits, that’s not good. Domaine de Chevalier blanc is citrusy, lemongrass, with some orchard fruit too. It’s likely to develop like the 2015… developing more stone fruit flavours and a honeyed character.’
Buy en primeur for control, not profit
‘You know the provenance from day one. It’s a bit like buying a new car and driving it off the forecourt. It’s still in the barrel; you own it; and then it is shipped to a wine merchant you can trust to store it properly. You also get to choose whether to have it in half bottles, bottles, magnums or bigger. A half bottle will age quicker than a bottle, a magnum more slowly. You can have a combination – drink the smaller format relatively young and allow the large formats to evolve slowly over time.’
Rely on your wine merchant
‘I was in Bordeaux in April and tasted hundreds of wines. Often one chateau will host a tasting for the region – for example, Domaine de Chevalier could host a tasting for the whole of the Pessac-Léognan appellation. For an equivalent tasting in London, you’d have to organise 50 producers to courier samples here! Also, if you have a good relationship with your wine merchant or portfolio manager, they’ll know the styles you like, the chateaux you tend to buy from… Plus, my vintage reports and tasting notes can help guide you.’
