The year got off to a propitious start with a rapid and homogenous flowering in May followed by an excellent fruit set, raising hopes across the region. Then came extreme heat in June and July with drought beginning to cause some stress to the vines. Fortunately, coastal storms brought much needed relief in August. Some more rain in mid-September (quite heavy in the northern Médoc) then got the vines back on track without causing rot. September generally saw warm days with cool nights helping lock in acidity and aromatic expression as the grapes ripened to full maturity.

As a result, producers were able to harvest small, thick-skinned, healthy red grapes in perfect conditions more or less at their leisure. For many estates, it was one of the longest harvests on record, beginning in early September and ending in the third week of October. Having vinified the wines, the Bordelais were enthusiastically upbeat in their messaging about the sweet bright fruit, acidity, structure and approachability of the vintage. Confidence reigned supreme.

Significantly, 2015 is extremely good on both sides of the river. In particular, St Émilion and Pomerol produced some spellbinding wines thanks to some outstanding Merlot and Cabernet Franc fruit. Sadly, once again, many of the usual Right Bank suspects continued to over-extract their 2015s, which remain unbalanced and unappetising.

On the other side of the Gironde, where Cabernet Sauvignon dominates, St Estèphe’s water retentive clay soils helped mitigate the hot, dry temperatures in July. However, some of the commune’s lesser wines do display a touch of dilution from the heavy rains in September. The best Pauillacs are imperiously good, demonstrating freshness, fruit and depth. Similarly, the vivid and refined classed-growth St Juliens were a particular sweet spot for this year. Arguably though, it was the elegant wines of Margaux that excelled the most in 2015.

Pessac-Léognan has delivered some powerful red wines with delicious fruit. The likes of Haut-Brion, La Mission, Haut-Bailly and Smith Haut Lafitte are magnificent. Happily, the sweet wines of Sauternes and Barsac are also worthy of attention. An exuberant, generous vintage with ample sugar levels and botrytis has given the wines an alluring luscious character. Most are tasting well already. Personally, I preferred the dry whites of 2014 to these 2015s. With that caveat, there are a small number of classy, dry Pessac-Léognans that are drinking beautifully.

During the en primeur campaign in 2016, these wines engendered plenty of excitement by critics and merchants. Perhaps those views have since been slightly tempered by the fabulous 2016s, which followed on immediately, as well as more recent vintages. Nonetheless, 2015 remains a very good vintage with plenty going for it in the form of good fruit, fine acidity and ripe tannins.

One potential problem for some consumers is that alcohols and styles can vary significantly – depending on the approach taken by each château. For instance, Lafite registered a featherlight 12.5% alcohol while others weighed in at 14.5% and more – especially on the Right Bank. The best of these Right Bank wines are beautifully balanced. The worst are anything but. Overall, I was slightly surprised by how soft and forward some of the wines were tasting, with quite a few well into their drinking windows. Reassuringly though, the pick of the bunch are only just beginning to be broach-able now. Moreover, there is no rush to drink the top wines any time soon.

With regard to prices, several wines of the 2015 Bordeaux vintage do look to be anomalously good value for the quality on offer – especially in relation to comparative vintages. For instance, many critics scored the 2015 Haut-Brion higher than its 2016 sibling. Yet the 2016 First Growth is priced slightly higher than the 2015 at just over £4.2k. Lynch-Bages, the two Pichons, Mouton and Latour also look attractively priced.

Right now, Bordeaux prices continue to remain somewhat depressed for various reasons – global instability, interest rates not coming down as predicted, low discretionary spend in the luxury sector and a lot of Bordeaux stock in both the supply chain and collectors’ cellars. However, this state of affairs also leads some market commentators to argue that Bordeaux prices are now too cheap, including the 2015s.

According to Matthew O’Connell, CEO of Bordeaux Index’s LiveTrade platform, ‘there are undoubtedly some very nice 2015 clarets to have in your cellar. So if you are looking for wines to enjoy and appreciate in value over time, 2015 could be an attractive opportunity. As always with Bordeaux, it’s a medium-term play. But right now might be a propitious moment to buy into the vintage.’