When should I drink everyday red Bordeaux?

What sets the window

Most everyday Bordeaux is Merlot-led, grown on higher-yielding sites across the region and aged briefly in tank or older barrels, if it sees wood at all. It has enough tannin and acidity to settle for a year or two after bottling, but not the concentration to build complexity over decades. The calculator gives it three to ten years after the vintage, and that upper figure belongs to the better petits châteaux from strong vintages. A supermarket Bordeaux is usually at its best in the first half of that range.

Opened too early

Even simple claret can be a little raw in its first year or two: green-edged tannin, a sappy, leafy note from under-ripe Cabernet in cooler years, and fruit that tastes more of plum skin than plum. Half an hour in a decanter helps more than it does with most wines at this price.

In the window

Once settled, it offers fresh red and black fruit, a touch of cedar or graphite, and soft, food-friendly tannin. Most bottles gain little after their fifth year or so and begin to dry out towards the end of the window, so buy them to drink rather than to keep. If you find a petit château you like from a ripe vintage, hold a few and taste one each year; that will tell you more than any chart.

Which vintages are ready

On the calculator’s figures, the everyday red Bordeaux vintages in their window in 2026 run from 2016 to 2023, and those from 2019 to 2020 sit around the likely peak. Anything from 2024 onwards is still ageing. Enter your own vintage above to check it.