What’s ahead in Bordeaux? Meeting François-Xavier Maroteaux
On Monday, Bordeaux welcomes around 5,000 wine critics, merchants, and writers to its annual Wine Futures week, when the region’s leading estates offer 2025 vintage previews through early tastings. Referred to locally as Bordeaux En Primeur, these events lay the ground for market insights and buying opportunities that will shape the year ahead for Bordeaux wine.
In Part I of our coverage of this pivotal event, we explored the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB), the multi-faceted organisation that orchestrates Bordeaux Wine Futures week.
In Part II, we meet François-Xavier Maroteaux, President of the UGCB and owner of the acclaimed Saint-Julien estate, Château Branaire-Ducru. Stepping into the role in 2025, he tells Westgarth Wines about his thoughts about Wine Futures 2025, what’s ahead for Bordeaux during his tenure, and how the region is meeting challenges of a changing wine world.
How would you describe the character of 2025’s Wine Futures in three words?
The 2025 vintage was classical. It was characterized by "balance," "density," and "velvety" texture, with good structure and nice tannins.
The UGCB is the face of richly diverse Bordeaux terroirs, personalities, and winemaking philosophies. How do you create unity while respecting individuality?
It’s simple; we have found that there is strength in union. We launched in 1973 with a trade trip to Japan. Since we were a group, we created greater interest from the wine world there. Today, we encompass 14 appellations and 131 wineries. All of them are different, with a range of prices and styles. The variety within the UGCB means that consumers can always find a wine that suits their taste.
Which international markets are the most vibrant for Bordeaux today, and why?
The USA is the leading market in value in 2025 and remains strong even with the complications caused by the current tariff situation. Bordeaux wines suit the American palate. Our second market is the UK, where there are numerous wine merchants. Next is Hong Kong, where we believe there is a great deal of potential for growth with more education about our region and wines. Following this are Switzerland and China, which are very big for us. These markets make up 70% of Bordeaux value. Worth noting are Belgium, Germany, and Canada, global wine markets that also engage strongly with Bordeaux.
What do you feel global audiences misunderstand most about Bordeaux, and how do you aim to reshape that perception through your Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux leadership?
One of the biggest misunderstandings about Bordeaux is that it is only suitable for long cellaring. The fact is, Bordeaux can be drunk earlier and earlier, as well as still benefiting from extended aging if a consumer chooses. This is because the wine style has changed since 2015, thanks to hotter vintages. With the exception of 2016, all vintages following this year have had very nice accessibility.
Bordeaux also has the image of being very expensive, but the truth is, it’s very competitive against similarly prestigious wine regions. It’s only a small part of Bordeaux production that falls into the category of premium prices. Generally, it has a fair price for the quality it offers. This is particularly evident in the 2025 vintage, and communicating this will be helped by the Wine Futures event. At the end of the day, the best ambassadors are the wines themselves.
How is the UGCB adapting its communication style to align with the expectations of digitally native younger wine audiences?
We are very active on social media with videos that describe our wineries and explain who we are – we’ve discovered that young consumers like to see how everything works! We’ve been delighted and surprised by the level of activity in our digital communication channels. We also have a digital magazine called ‘Vintage by UGCB’ and, interestingly, our audience for this publication is 52% women. Women are really active in wine in Japan, for example, while men tend toward strong alcohol like spirits. We’ve also been surprised by India and the number of women who prefer wine there.
Wine Futures remains a key pillar of Bordeaux’s identity. Do you think there are any necessary changes to help the modern system stay relevant for the next generation?
Whether Wine Futures is over or not has been an important question for years. The reality is that we simply find that the interest is for fewer wineries these days (we used to showcase 350 wines during the campaign). Wine Futures is still the best way to secure an allocation of a Bordeaux brand you like. In the past, you bought to drink in 10 or 15 years. Now, you buy younger vintages to drink earlier. The 2023, for example, needs less time to sell the quantities that are available because of this new tendency. So, as wine quantities decrease, I think Wine Futures will still have an important role for securing allocations in the future.
The 2025 is a great vintage. The quantities are smaller, and we’re eager to see the response from industry players and wine lovers.
How do you see the relationship between transparency, pricing, and consumer trust evolving?
The Wine Futures week offers an opportunity for everyone to know everything immediately. We need to work with this. Bordeaux has never offered such good value as today. There is more trust now, too. More and more tourists come to Bordeaux because they love wine and they want to experience great moments in the region. We’ve discovered that it’s not always just about pricing. The experience is more important and, notably, consumers behave differently from investors meaning they buy and consume wines more quickly today. If they perceive that the quality of a wine experience or wine is high, that is more important than what they spend.
Climate change is reshaping Bordeaux viticulture. What about this phenomenon concerns you most, and what are you optimistic about?
There is definitely a noticeable change in climate conditions. The vintages of 2022 and 2025 were the hottest in years in Bordeaux. I’m optimistic about quality. After 2015, because of climate change, it has become easier to achieve full berry ripeness, facilitating high-quality wines. Quantities have gone down - for example, in Saint Julien, last year we had the lowest production in 50 years. We had to deal with extreme growing conditions (we only produced 26 hl per hectare), but we had one of the hottest summers, which helped the harvest. So, climate change in Bordeaux is having the impact of reducing quantity but raising quality even more.
Generally, what do you consider the UGCB’s most important strategic priority for the next five years?
Consumer education! Twenty, 30, or 40 years ago, we had wine lovers who read and knew a lot about different wines and brands. Today, we have noticed that, at tasting events, there is less knowledge, especially amongst consumers. People spend a lot of money and buy expensive wines, but don’t necessarily want to read a lot about them, so offering education is key.
How can we do this? The best ambassadors are the wines themselves, so we organize UGCB events. Taste first – education after. We organize Master Classes where we describe the wines and the production processes, and we arrange pairing dinners in different cities or livestream classes to consumers and importers.
Any final thoughts?
The 2025 vintage is an excellent “spokesperson” for Bordeaux. The style, I believe, fits with expectations. We are looking forward to sharing it!
What’s On
Wine Futures and related events & dates
- April 20: Opening presentation and tasting for media and industry
- April 21–23: Tastings and presentations at various participating estates
- June 2–7: Connoisseur Week, led by Jane Anson and Sarah Kemp, offering specialized tours of top estates like Château Margaux
- May–June: Main Bordeaux en primeur commercial campaign for buying futures
- June 6, Grands Crus Weekend: Exhibition of wines of 100 Châteaux at historic Hangar 14, open to enthusiasts from all over the world
Feature image: Château Branaire-Ducru
Want to read more? Take a look at some of our other blogs:
