The Journal / Beliefs
2025, the lucky hand
Primeurs 2025
Every vintage is a silent gamble, played out day by day to the rhythm of the heavens, balancing faith in the vines with trust in the winemaker.
Every year, we take pleasure in defining our vintage, putting it into words, and telling its story. In 2025, a wave of optimism carried us forward, inviting us to explore the metaphor of a game.
First, the game of chance, that of capricious weather.
Then, the gamble, that the winegrower faced with each decision.
In some year the climate reshuffles the deck — intense heat, unexpected rain, disrupted ripening — but through careful observation and adjustments, the winemaker’s precise and patient touch has made all the difference.
This ‘Lucky Hand’ in which we have chosen to believe is not necessarily the one that wins every round. Rather, it is the one that knows how to cope with uncertainty, tame chance, and make the most of the hand it is dealt: our harvest!
To bring this vintage to life, we commissioned a series of illustration by Javi Aznarez*, a Catalan artist with a distinctive style. His precise line, imbued with subtle humour and a keen sense of composition, has brought this past year to life. Each illustration sketches a scene, an atmosphere, a subtle narrative of our 2025 vintage at the heart of each of our châteaux.
It is said that vintages ending in 5 possess an extra touch of soul. Let’s hope that 2025 proves this once again.
* Javi Aznarez contributes to leading publications such as *The New Yorker* and *The New York Times*. He also created the illustrations for Wes Anderson’s film *The French Dispatch*, where his distinctive style blends with natural elegance into the director’s aesthetic.
Lafite 2025, the strong suit
2025 is the last vintage in our beloved wooden vats. It arrived like that last card we were waiting for, allowing us to win the jackpot.
A wet winter, a very dry spring, a very hot summer but with two saviour rains for Pauillac on 24th June and 20th July. In mid-August, at the end of veraison, the vines were suffering but they were still green and progressing towards harvest with the calm of old, well-versed troops. Yields were modest, but the balance was already there for the great wines. On the last weekend of August, 60 mm of rain fell. Perhaps too much, but it was perfectly absorbed… and we will never know what the vintage would have been like without this final twist of fate.
The tastings, during the extended vatting period so as not to leave our old vat room, brought everyone to the same conclusion: the wine has the taste of the last of times and the best of times.
Carruades 2025, the winning combination
We have been betting on our young vines for a few years now. Well planted, they are now coming into their own earlier and often have a dose of beginners luck.
In 2025, we were right to pick their numbers on the grid: Cabernet-Sauvignon with an almost paradoxical freshness, Cabernet franc (admittedly few at this stage) that reveal their promising terroirs, and Merlot plots that are sometimes take longer to mature than the other grape varieties. Their combined strength and vigour gives us the winning formula for Carruades !
Bingo.
Duhart-Milon 2025, graves, all in !
It was right in the heart of the vineyard that Louis redesigned each plot of Duhart-Milon. He had his own recipe: adapting the direction of the rows and the density, testing rootstocks, pruning differently and adapting the plant cover according to the conditions of each plot.
In 2025, this work paid off, especially for our gravelly soils. The grapes that entered the cellars tasted of good fortune. The kind that is well managed, that happily surprises us and where we can’t wait to see what happens next. From August onwards, our white grapes, especially our Sémillon, gave us a leg up to achieve excellent ripeness.
A taste for risk? Not this year. By going all in in 2025 at Duhart, whether white or red, we are serene. We are confident.
L’ Évangile 2025, a 3 hand game!
2025 in Pomerol was one of those games where nothing is a foregone conclusion and where the heavens have more than one trick up their sleeve. It was played in three acts.
The season got off to a calm start in the spring, with just the right amount of rain for bud break and flowering. But then things got complicated. The weather turned nasty, and we went through a dry spell with rising temperatures. We hung on and kept the faith! Great games are never easy. Yes, the grapes are small and affect yields.
But the rain returned in mid-August and did us good. We harvested early, with the kind of balance we like and plenty of joyful aromas. Phew!
Rieussec 2025, the king of sémillon
In a game, there is often a king, crowned by luck—and by a little bit of talent. In 2025, at Rieussec, our king is Sémillon: it has the breadth and fruit of the greatest, while retaining a freshness that extends its expression.
The bright summer could have left traces of heat. But we began the harvest early, starting on 18th August for our dry whites. This way, the heat was kept in check and the acidity remained, helped by well-timed rains at the end of August.
In the end, it is a sunny vintage – but only just as much as needed. Long live the King.
