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The highlights of the hors Bordeaux 2026 Spring collection

02 March 2026 By Colin Hay

On the eve of the spring 2026 edition of La Place’s hors Bordeaux campaign, db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay assesses the prospects for these iconic wines set to be released with market optimists starting to discern the first green shots of economic revival.

It is never easy to predict the point at which a market long in the doldrums starts to revive. And the last 18 months has brought many a false dawn as, time and again, the green shoots of economic revival have been cut off by a fresh blast of frosty fine wine market sentiment. This time might be different; but then again, it might not.

The legacy of market contraction

What is clear, though, is that la place de Bordeaux’s spring offering this year will be shaped more by the legacy of market contraction than by the anticipation of market revival. In practice that means that it will be by far the smallest offering – both in terms of the number of releases and the total number of bottles released – that we have seen since the unveiling of Bordeaux’s spring collection became an annual date in the fine wine calendar.

In this reduced form, it remains to be seen whether it is capable of sparking the kind of interest that it once attracted. And therein lies the problem.

There is no doubt, then, that this will be a significantly restricted offer with many fewer releases than for a number of years – and notably fewer than this time last year. But it is still likely to provide, just as it is likely to be taken as, a key test of market sentiment before the crucial 2025 en primeur campaign that will follow hot on its heels.

Indeed, here the small volumes may actually turn out to be something of an advantage. For unlike primeurs there is no danger of an oversupply of young wine saturating the market and massively exceeding demand. Indeed, almost all of the spring releases come from properties with deep pockets, significant financial holdings and, no less crucially, much larger volume wines that are not sold through la place. Most do not need to sell these wines through. And, precisely because of that, many will seek to hold back stock and release only a small proportion of the potential offer as a way of guaranteeing to the on-trade as much as to final consumers that the price does not fall on the secondary market after release. We saw a little of this from certain Bordeaux châteaux during the 2024 en primeur campaign and I expect to see more of it in 2025. It can only help to rebuild market confidence.

The spring offering

Last year, at the same point in the cycle, my spring collection report contained tasting notes for no fewer than 80 wines. This year it contains just 56 – and that includes nine new entrants (most of them small volume, relatively low-priced releases that are exclusivities of individual négociants) and 5 wines whose release dates have moved from the autumn to the spring. In short, over 40 % of the wines brought to market this time last year are not being released just a year later.

Among the most high-profile casualties are Ceretto and Michele Chiarlo’s Barolo and Barbaresco offerings, Giodo’s Brunello di Montalcino, Dal Forno’s Amarone and Valpolicella and Alma’s Rioja. But there are also a number of properties whose releases are on hold and which may simply be held back until September (such as Domaine La Chapelle, Boizel and Acaibo). A number of other properties have, perhaps understandably, foregone the opportunity of a tiny spring re-release of a later vintage (Vérité, Lanson and Philipponnat). We cannot read too much into this; and it would certainly be wrong to infer from it that March is no longer working for properties like these.

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The wines switching their release dates from September to March are: Viñedo Chadwick (to separate the release from that of Seña), Nicolas Catena Zapata and its much smaller production sister wine Adrianna Vineyards Mundus Bacillus Terrae and Will Berliner’s two Cloudburst cuvées. Each brings additional interest to the spring campaign – though whether that will prove enough to compensate for the absences is perhaps a moot point.

There are also two exciting first releases of thrilling new wines. The first sees Favia return to la place with a larger production (and, if my information is accurate, very competitively priced) Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon from a vineyard contiguous with Opus One. This (as my tasting note below attests) is one of the true stars of the campaign. For now, if I have understood well, it will be distributed by Joanne and CVBG alone with a small initial release. The second is no less intriguing. It is a joint project between Viñedos del Contino and Guillaume Thienpont (of Pomerol’s Vieux Château Certan) to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of this Rioja icon. The wine itself – Chorus – is sourced from three tiny plots of Tempranillo and is truly exquisite even in this, its first, vintage.

This time last year I spoke of la place’s newfound economic realism and that realism is clearly reflected in this year’s spring collection. It will be characterised by a smaller number of releases (and in smaller quantities) of wines that have already proved themselves on la place even in difficult market conditions. I expect them to be competitively priced and, perhaps more importantly, released only in volumes that will guarantee that their prices will not fall on the secondary market. That may well prove a tempting offer and it might also hint to Bordeaux itself how it needs to think about release price strategy for the en primeur campaign to come.

The movers and shakers of the campaign

New entrants: Chorus Rioja (Viñedos del Contino); Favia Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon; Domaine Ampeau’s Auxey-Duresses, Meursault and Pommard cuvées (a Joanne exclusivity); Paul Jaboulet-Aîné’s Domaine de Roure Crozes-Hermitages (a Joanne exclusivity).

Moving from September to March: Viñedo Chadwick; Catena Zapata; Cloudburst (Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon).

Wines with no March release: Acaibo; Alma; Ceretto; Domaine La Chapelle; Domaine Requillet; Boizel (Joyau); Dal Forno; Michele Chiarlo; Quentin Jeannot; Talenti; Giodo; Bodega Garzon Balastro; Vérité; Lanson; Philipponnat.