Bordeaux · vintages · 2026
Bordeaux vintages to drink in 2026: which are in their window
A vintage isn't good or bad in the absolute: it is ready, or not yet, or no longer. For an event in 2026, the question is about the day the bottle will be opened. Choose the year: the tool tells you where Left Bank reds, Right Bank reds, dry whites and Sauternes from that year stand today.
Your vintage in 2026
Verdicts for wines from cru bourgeois to classified growth level, well stored. Generic Bordeaux are ready three years earlier and finished three years earlier.
The table at a glance
The same verdicts, for every year, for the reds. Dry whites are drunk within five years whatever the year; Sauternes last twenty years and more. Every year since 1945, bank by bank: the Bordeaux vintage chart.
| Year | Quality | Left Bank | Right Bank | Character |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Great | Ready, for a long while yet | Ready to drink | Tannic and dense when young, open and generous today. |
| 2006 | Good | Ready to drink | Drink up | Classic, a little austere, perfectly mature. |
| 2007 | Light | Drink up | Drink up | Rainy summer, supple wines to drink without waiting. |
| 2008 | Good | Ready to drink | Ready to drink | Late harvest, freshness, very good at the table. |
| 2009 | Great | Ready to drink | Ready to drink | Sunny, generous, the vintage everyone likes. |
| 2010 | Great | Ready, for a long while yet | Ready to drink | Powerful, structured, twenty years ahead of it for the top wines. |
| 2011 | Average | Ready to drink | Drink up | Uneven; pick the right estates. |
| 2012 | Average | Ready to drink | Ready to drink | Successful merlot, Right Bank the safest. |
| 2013 | Weak | Drink up | Drink up | Difficult year, light wines; avoid for an event. |
| 2014 | Good | Ready to drink | Ready to drink | Fine autumn, balance, sensible prices. |
| 2015 | Great | Ready to drink | Ready to drink | Round, charming, a superb Right Bank. |
| 2016 | Great | Ready, opening up | Ready to drink | Fresh and deep; the great Médocs are only just starting. |
| 2017 | Average | Ready to drink | Ready to drink | April frost, small volumes, straight wines. |
| 2018 | Great | Ready, opening up | Ready to drink | Hot and rich; already generous. |
| 2019 | Great | Ready, opening up | Ready to drink | Balance and reasonable prices: the best value for 2026. |
| 2020 | Great | Wait, for the top wines | Ready, opening up | Dense, precise; the crus bourgeois are ready. |
| 2021 | Average | Ready to drink | Ready to drink | Cool year, light, easy-drinking wines. |
| 2022 | Great | Wait | Wait, except satellites | Heatwave, ripe and concentrated wines; still young. |
| 2023 | Good | Wait | Wait | Too young for a meal in 2026, except generic Bordeaux. |
What it means for an event in 2026
For a meal for a hundred people, you want a wine in its window on the day itself, not in ten years. In red, the crus bourgeois and second wines of 2016, 2018 and 2019 are right there: open, ripe, no harshness. 2015 and 2014 too on the Right Bank. 2020 for the modest appellations, not for the great growths, which still need five years. 2022 and 2023 for the cocktail reception, never for the main course.
In dry white, 2022, 2023 and 2024: a Pessac-Léognan more than six years old is one for connoisseurs, not for a drinks reception. In Sauternes, anything more than five years old works, and 2009, 2011, 2015 and 2017 are remarkable with foie gras.
The page which Bordeaux for a wedding cross-references these years with the appellations, and the one on second wines explains how to get a great name in a ready vintage without paying for the grand vin. For years before 2005, the birth-year vintage page goes back to 1945.
What is the best Bordeaux vintage to drink in 2026?
For a meal, 2019: a great, balanced year, ready almost everywhere, and sold for less than 2018 or 2020 because it was released in the middle of the pandemic. 2016 for the Right Bank and the Médoc crus bourgeois. 2015 for Saint-Émilion. The great 2010s and 2005s are magnificent, but in 2026 they are expensive and best drunk seated.
Which vintages should you avoid for an event?
2013 first, weak everywhere. 2007 and 2011 to drink up, not to serve to a hundred people. And the ones that are too young: 2022 and 2023 classified growths are closed, tannic, and will seem harsh at the table. A great vintage that is too young disappoints more than a small year at its peak.
Can a vintage marked “wait” be served if you decant it?
A little. Two hours in a decanter opens up a 2020 cru bourgeois; it doesn't transform a 2022 great growth. For a hundred bottles, decanting isn't realistic anyway. Choosing a year that is ready is safer than forcing a young one.
Do white Bordeaux age?
Dry whites, not much: one to five years for almost all of them, eight to ten for the great barrel-aged Pessac-Léognans. Sauternes and Barsac, yes: fifteen to forty years, and they improve. For an event, a recent dry white and a Sauternes at least five years old. For your own cellar, bottle by bottle: my bottles to open this year.