Wine 2024

Buying 2024 wine: freshness across the regions

The 2024 vintage tells the same story across France: a cool, difficult growing season, small quantities, and wines whose appeal lies in their purity and balance rather than their power. Region by region, here is where to find the year’s successes and how best to enjoy them.

Languedoc-Roussillon — An accessible introduction to a scarce vintage

Languedoc-Roussillon came through 2024 better than the northern wine regions, and this is where the vintage is most approachable. Rather than being a drawback, the year’s coolness refined the reds: clear fruit, restrained alcohol and an easy-drinking palate. The whites gained welcome vibrancy. The region was not entirely spared, however, with pronounced drought in Roussillon and the Cévennes and poor fruit set in grenache, resulting in small harvests that were carefully sorted. The outcome: precise, accessible wines and a reliable introduction to the vintage.

In the Vaunage area of Gard, Roc d’Anglade makes exceptionally fresh reds and whites, while Mas Bruguière’s Pic Saint-Loup emphasizes finesse on its limestone and schist soils. In Roussillon, Clos des Fées takes grenache to new heights with its La Petite Sibérie cuvée, while Domaine Gauby, in Calce, embodies the pursuit of altitude and freshness that defines the South’s modern style. These distinctive, winemaker-driven cuvées show the vintage at its most appealing.

Aging potential: wines to enjoy young for their freshness; the most structured Roussillon reds should last around ten years—check the style of the cuvée before deciding to wait.

Bordeaux — A drinker’s vintage, pure and fresh

In Bordeaux, 2024 will be remembered as a modest year, among the wettest in decades, marked by downy mildew, poor fruit set and delayed flowering. Yet the best wines charm with their freshness: low alcohol, rarely exceeding 13.5%, lively acidity and fine tannins, in a classic, refreshing claret style reminiscent of 2021. Success varies widely and depends heavily on sorting and terroir, with an advantage for the Médoc’s cabernet-based wines around Pauillac. Decanter also places 2024 among the cool, classic vintages, with dry whites proving particularly vibrant and aromatic.

This vintage suits wine lovers who like to drink their Bordeaux relatively young, without waiting many years. The most meticulous estates, able to sort rigorously, made beautifully balanced reds in Pauillac and on the Right Bank alike. For a cellar built around longer aging, it is better to turn to the great warm-weather vintages; our selection of Bordeaux wines makes it easy to compare styles and eras.

Aging potential: a vintage best drunk relatively young, within three to eight years for the top reds—ideal for drinking while longer-aging vintages mature.

Burgundy and Alsace — Whites take center stage

Burgundy endured one of its toughest seasons, with frost in Chablis, downy mildew in the Côte-d’Or and hail in the Yonne, resulting in historically low yields. Chardonnay fared far better than pinot noir: the whites combine pronounced acidity, balance and a clear expression of terroir, and should be enjoyable fairly early. The scarce reds were vinified to preserve fruit and finesse rather than force structure. Alsace, also hit by downy mildew and wet weather during flowering, recaptures in this cool year the vibrancy and precision that define great rieslings.

For whites, the vintage rewards the coolest terroirs and the most exacting winemakers, exemplified by Domaine Leflaive on the Côte de Beaune. Lovers of Burgundy grand crus will find finely etched chardonnays there, though not in large quantities. Among Alsace wines, the same energy runs through focused, saline rieslings made for the table. In both regions, the whites lead the way.

Aging potential: open the whites within five to ten years to enjoy their vibrancy; drink Burgundy reds for their fruit without waiting too long.

Rhône Valley and Loire — Balance and freshness in small quantities

The northern Rhône endured a demanding season, yielding light, fresh wines. Decanter rates the year around 3.5 out of 5 in the north: reds softer than usual and best drunk young, with the most convincing examples from Hermitage, Cornas and southern Saint-Joseph, while Côte-Rôtie, more exposed to bad weather, proved more challenging. The whites, made from marsanne and viognier harvested in better conditions, are a real success: fresh and balanced. In the Loire, the same cool, damp weather favored taut whites—chenin blancs and sauvignon blancs—that proved more consistent than the light reds.

In the north, favor the warmest sites and the most reliable producers: syrah retains its definition there without excessive alcohol. Our Rhône Valley wines bring together these benchmark appellations, from Cornas to Hermitage. Among Loire wines, dry and off-dry chenin blancs perfectly capture the year’s vibrancy and offer immediate pleasure. This is a vintage for the table more than the cellar: savor it rather than tucking it away at the back of a rack.

Aging potential: enjoy northern Rhône reds young, allowing five to eight years for the fullest-bodied; Rhône whites and Loire chenin blancs are already appealing, with lovely freshness.

Port — The first major declaration since 2017

The Douro tells the most compelling story of 2024. After a rainy winter and spring replenished water reserves, followed by a hot summer and cool fall, Port houses deemed the year classic enough to declare a Vintage: the first general declaration since 2017, marking the longest gap since World War II. It signals a return to the classic Douro style, defined by elegance and balance. The major houses joined in—including the Symington Group’s brands (Graham’s, Dow’s, Warre’s, Cockburn’s), Fladgate’s (Taylor’s, Fonseca, Croft) and Quinta do Noval, including its exceptionally rare Nacional. It is a side of the vintage overlooked by Bordeaux-focused specialists, and one highly sought after by collectors.

Vintage Port, bottled young and then aged for decades, remains a collector’s wine. For a more accessible introduction to single-year Port, consider colheita: a Port from one vintage, aged for years in cask before bottling, ready to drink upon purchase and reliably enjoyable. Our Ports and, more broadly, our Portuguese wines let you explore both sides, from bottles to cellar to a dated Port you can open right away.

Aging potential: the 2024 Vintage Ports will keep for decades as collector’s wines; cask-aged colheitas can be enjoyed upon purchase.

Who is the 2024 vintage for?

The 2024 vintage is for wine lovers who enjoy cool, approachable, classic years and do not want to wait. It is an honest, modest year to drink early, but one with genuine successes: the freshness of Languedoc-Roussillon, taut whites from Bordeaux, Burgundy and Alsace, supple reds from the northern Rhône and, above all, the rare Vintage declaration in the Douro. To compare 2024 with other years and find bottles at their peak, keep the SoDivin Vintage Guide handy.

Every bottle from 2024 is selected from trusted winemakers, inspected and then stored under our cellar conditions before prompt, careful shipping. Enjoy this fresh vintage with peace of mind, whether for today’s pleasure or a milestone worth celebrating.