Our Fine Wine team are out in Bordeaux for en primeur – follow their updates from each day of tasting, and some of their wine highlights of the vintage. On their third day, it was time to visit the estates on the Right Bank. Catch up with Day One and Day Two here.

Wednesday was spent tasting the wines of Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. We started the morning with visits to Angélus, Cheval Blanc, Ausone, and Pavie. In any vintage, an incredibly special day of tasting. But with the 2022s, potentially some of the finest expressions of these wines ever produced, our anticipation was at another level.

We arrived at Angélus to find photographic portraits of their Cabernet Franc vines, taken the day before harvest, on the tasting room’s walls. Prior to this point, we have been told by every Château that we visited: the vines showed unbelievable resilience in such a hot year. But the pictures of those gnarled old vines with perfect berries demonstrated that point better than words ever could. Working with this exceptional raw material, Angélus have produced 2 wines of exceptional quality. Richness meets vibrancy in perfect harmony. Drinkability is off the charts. Bravo!

Cheval Blanc presented another expression of the vintage, a little reserved when we tasted it, but once again demonstrating the abundant quality of the fruit that old vines produced in top vineyards. In exceptional vintages, they do not produce a Petit Cheval Blanc, as they find the most complete expression of their wine comes from the harmony of all their plots of vines blended together. The last time that happened at Cheval Blanc was in 2015, and it looks set to happen again in 2022. Now for the bad news. Yields were low and so getting hold of some will prove even more tricky than usual… But you really, really will want to try!

The Ausone stable of wines showed yet another expression of Saint-Émilion in 2022. I found them dense, tightly wound and cerebral. You can immediately tell that the wines are special, absolutely loaded with potential and that trademark minerality, but they gave precious little away at this early stage. Visiting this small family owned Château, perched up at the top of Saint Emilion, was a great wine moment and a truly special experience for all the team.

Next we shot across to Pavie, another of the great Saint-Émilion terroirs, which gave us yet a fourth expression of the vintage: deep, powerful and dark with a flash of refreshing salinity from the limestone soils. The precision and dynamism of the wine call to mind an F1 race car. This thing is built to go fast and dazzle.

Primeurs are not all Grand Cru Classé, all the time, and the afternoon saw us up in the hills to taste at Château La Vaisinerie. A Puisseguin Saint-Émilion property that has recently changed hands and is on a lovely trajectory. If you’re looking at Bordeaux for £16.95 a bottle, we currently have the 2018 in stock and it’s delightful, while the 2019, on the way soon, is even better! Quality and drinkability abound at all levels in Bordeaux, particularly when you look a little further afield.

2022 is the first vintage that Figeac was upgraded to Grand Cru Classé A and they’ve marked the occasion by making a belter of a wine. Their approach to 2022 was resolutely low intervention. No deleafing, no ploughing and the use of cover crops in between rows of vines resulted in a greener foliage than they had in 2020, and this boldly ecological approach in conjunction with the capabilities of their new high tech winery, has enabled them to produce a Figeac bestowed with sublime balance and bursting fresh fruit.

La Gaffelière followed on – an estate we have been strongly recommending across recent vintages as it consistently makes one of the best value, top flight wines in Saint-Émilion. Saying that, even we were surprised by what we tasted. Bold, bright and fresh – showing the very best of its limestone terroir, a part of which is right next to Ausone and Bélair-Monange. No wonder La Gaffelière is being talked up once again this vintage as one of the definitive insider’s picks.

Finally, we headed down to Libourne to taste the wines of J-P Moueix. Masters of the right bank, their spread of holdings across Saint-Émilion and Pomerol see them uniquely placed to asses and understand a vintage. Highlights were certainly not limited to the big names, all of the team were taken with Peymouton – which should release well under £15 per bottle. Quality really finds further gears as you move up, reaching a crescendo with Hosanna, La Fleur-Pétrus, Trotanoy, and Bélair-Monange. Each wine is made the same way, by the same winemaking team, but show their own unique characters reflective of their terroirs.

Edouard Moueix was characteristically charming and authoritative in his overview, “there is still so much to learn. Châteaux have produced the best wines in their properties histories but they can’t be sure why… The only bad news, as there must always be some bad news, is volume!”

Tasting Highlights

Alex Turnbull, Private Sales Manager

Day 3 saw us on the Right Bank where the quality of wines in 2022 is astounding. A particular mention must go to Constance and Noëmie Durantou, who have produced a spellbinding range of wines. Montlandrie and Les Cruzelles in particular stood out as being exceptional, and will likely represent some of the best value for money from the whole campaign. Anyone lucky enough to receive an allocation of La Petite Eglise and Eglise Clinet will be smitten as these were two of my wines of the day.

The Moueix tasting is always one of the most fascinating and in 2022 you can really see the individual terroirs of the Châteaux they work with shining through. Bélair-Monange is a towering achievement of which the Moueix family should be incredibly proud, while La Fleur-Pétrus is one of the most complex and layered wines of the vintage, for me at least.

Finally, Pavie deserves a special mention. There has been much change here – Pavie Decesse and Bellevue Mondotte are no more, and instead these vineyards are going in to Pavie. A special label to commemorate Gerard Perse’s 25 year tenure at the Estate has been commissioned which involves gold inlaid in to the bottles. Luckily the wine inside is every bit as stunning as the packaging – Pavie 2022 is, in my mind, the best they have ever made.

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