En Primeur campaign for the 2022 vintage Day Three
Bordeaux
Tasted Monday, April 24, 2023 by chatters with 169 views
Introduction
For the second year, Daniel very, very, very kindly agreed to take me to the En Primeur campaign. We were, again, guests of the Negociant Ballande & Meneret.
Flight 1 - Margaux Chateau visits (22 Notes)
The first day of the Chateau visits saw us on the road to Margaux, flitting like butterflies from flower to flower, tasting the sweet nectar…actually, as I was driving it was more like bumble bees bumping…plan of attack was for me to drive us up and around the Chateau and then Daniel got us back to our little Airbnb
Overall impression was of a lack of continuity across the village and a more weighty profile in general - straying toward St Julien in fact. Apparently St Julien got a couple of small rainfalls at the start of July that Margaux missed out on...
Of the wines I tasted the Palmer was the winner ahead of the Margaux, the Brane Cantenac looked good as well - earlier tasting backed up.
Flight 2 - Lunch at Prieure Lichine (3 Notes)
Just a quiet lunch at Prieure Lichine this year hosted by Lisa with myself, Daniel, Yann from Ballande and Matthieu, one of his South Korea based clients. We started with white asparagus with a cream sauce (with the tiniest Dijon mustard note) followed by Cote du Boeuf and veg with the 2015 and a selection of cheeses with the 2010
Flight 3 - Supper at Conseillante (6 Notes)
Supper at Conseillante hosted by Marielle Cazaux. Other than the 2022, I took my notes surreptitiously hence their paucity
Closing
A lovely first day of driving around...
2022 Château Malescot St. Exupéry
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Blackcurrant cordial strays to the jammy, sweet spice, a little cedar, slightly ripe plums in support as well as a little caramel. Medium plus intensity acidity, ripe blackcurrant, plenty of woody tannins with a savoury underpin, plummy notes join on the finish with some alcohol warmth...actually the finish proves quite warm. Bit big for me.
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2022 Château La Gurgue
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Plums, violets, floral notes, slightly cheesy with sweet spice and an almost saline oyster shell note over plenty of struck match reductiveness. Medium plus intensity acidity, plentiful drying, chalky tannic grip; more grape than wood, savoury plummy fruit with a saline note, it's a little out of whack at the moment.
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2022 Château Ferrière
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Medium minus intensity aromas of dark fruits, plums over blackcurrant, a little floral top note, savoury, slightly reductive with savoury spices. Medium plus intensity acidity, savoury, chewy tannins are slightly woody and very drying, black hued fruits are in and place behind this tannic wall. Tough, hard. Lacks generosity.
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2022 Château Durfort-Vivens
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Blackcurrant, a little sweet spice, plenty of cedar, touch of plum. Simple though pleasant nose. Fresh with medium plus intensity acidity, savoury black fruits initially prove quite tight and a little almost over-extracted, slight alcohol warmth. That oak is present flavour wise and on the grippy drying, chewy tannins. Hmm, I want to like this more than I do unfortunately
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2022 Château Haut-Bages Libéral
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Pauillac
Polished oak with plush ripe blackcurrant, a little meaty, savoury underpin, cedar. Medium plus intensity acidity, blackcurrant over plum, a little cream, chewy and dense tannic grip is tight, long, again there is a sense of an over-reliance on oak.
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2022 Pavillon Rouge du Château Margaux
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Plums, sweet spice, cream, polished oak, slight floral notes with time in the glass the Cabernet starts to show through as fresh blackcurrant. Medium plus intensity acidity, concentrated dark hued fruits; plums over blackcurrant, proves powerful supported by alcohol warmth and grippy, drying, woody, coarse flour textured tannins that close the palate leaving that alcohol warmth on the finish. Meh.
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2022 Château Margaux
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Quite closed initially…earthy, blackcurrant, sweet spice, cedar and a little cream with agitation. Juicy, fleshy tending to the mouth-watering, the black hued fruit is a touch non-delineated, drying persistent tannins help to carry the fruit, quite talc textured, long, slight non-intrusive alcohol warmth on the finish, very good, balance and control.
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2022 Pavillon Blanc du Château Margaux
France, Bordeaux
Gooseberry, cream, slight passion fruit, sweet spice, a little apple note here as well as a touch of minerality. Juicy but more fleshy than fresh, slight apple, gooseberry, the passion fruit is more muted here; almost a touch of melon and very slightly bitter textured grip that proves a touch drying. Hmm.
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2022 Alter Ego
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Plum, sweet spice, a little liquorice, blackcurrant, very slight violet. Juicy, fleshy, initial fruit sweetness then quite right with liquorice, plums, tight tannic grip is slightly woody though persistent, drying…the fruit carries helped by a little alcohol prickle. S'okay
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2022 Château Palmer
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Blackcurrant, savoury and meaty elements, tiny reductiveness over plums, cedar present but not so dominant. Medium plus intensity acidity, blackcurrant , plenty of tight grape and wood tannins, fleshy, balance of fruit and tannins is near perfect. Absolutely lovely, harmonious. I think this is the best Palmer I've ever tasted (note - this should be qualified by the fact that I haven't had that much Palmer so my experiences are fairly limited)
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2022 Château Prieuré-Lichine
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Plummy, ripe, sweet spice, a little blackcurrant note here as well, smells quite concentrated. Tending to medium plus intensity acidity, juicy, savoury, woody, cream notes, the blackcurrant and plum fruit is concentrated the tannins are chewy and close down the palate, a touch of alcohol warmth on the finish, better than I remember the first tasting being.
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2022 Château d'Issan Blason d'Issan
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Fresh plums and blackcurrant, floral top notes, quite jammy fruit though, cedar and sweet spices in support. Medium plus intensity acidity, that jammy black fruit has a little savoury underpin, sweet spice, drying, slightly woody tannins travel with the fruit, alcohol warmth is annoyingly intrusive on the finish. Other than that this is perfectly pleasant.
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2022 Château d'Issan
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Initially some soft black fruits, a little almost minty note but, with time, the fruits become denser and more concentrated joined by a little crushed dusty star anise, oaky spice and a touch of baked earth…lots going on, not all pleasant…it has a lot to say to my nose. medium plus intensity acidity and a melange of black fruits sprinkled with that star anise, I'm also getting a touch of black olive here as well as some woody, coarse chalky textured tannins and a touch of yeast extract and non-intrusive alcohol warmth on the long finish. Woof!
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2022 Château Rauzan-Ségla
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
"Barrel Sample from year old barrel - Cooper; Darnajou (note Rauzan Segla's current regime is about six coopers and % one year old plus % new oak barrels for the vintage)
Black and red currant, slight butter, violet, plum but this is quite fruit forward with a little liquorice note joining as well. Fine, softly grained, polite silky tannins, a little savoury underpin, very fresh without being mouth-wateringly acidic, elegant, the coolness of the serving temperature (from the barrel room) helps with any alcohol warmth there may be."
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2022 Château Rauzan-Ségla
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
"Barrel Sample from new barrel - Cooper; Darnajou (note Rauzan Segla's current regime is about six coopers and % one year old plus % new oak barrels for the vintage)
More oak here, unsurprisingly, the fruit present as per the year old but subsumed but this woody wrapping,. Juicy, fleshy, woody drying tannins are slightly too much for the fruit but this still shows that elegance and perfume. Very good."
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2022 Château Rauzan-Ségla
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Plums, black fruits, oak, sweet spice, slight cedar and a touch of violet, very slight stewed note here as well. Juicy, fleshy, dark hued fruits, dense chewy tannins though the wood is fruit saturated, a little hardness to the back palate with a very slightly stewed fruit note on the finish, handles it's alcohol well. Okay.
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2022 Château Brane-Cantenac Le Baron de Brane
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Plums, blackcurrant, sweet spice, slight cedar, violet, tiny herbaceous underpin, a touch of yeast extract. Medium plus intensity acidity, savoury plums, slight chalky minerality, a touch of yeast extract, tannins are drying, slightly woody, chalky textured. Hmm.
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2022 Château Brane-Cantenac
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Blackcurrant, sweet spice, polished oak, slight plum and savoury concentrated note here as well as a little jamminess. In the mouth it's savoury, dark hued fruits, plentiful woody tannins close down the palate, slight alcohol warmth intrudes on the finish, touch of bitterness, perhaps a little too extracted? Bit of a beast. Hmm.
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1983 Château Brane-Cantenac
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Leather, earth, Autumn leaves, slightly meaty, touch of caramel, brambly fruit. Medium plus intensity acidity, juicy, savoury, meaty underpin, the fruit is a little dried out on the palate, yeast extract, drying talc textured tannins. Nice
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2022 Château Cantenac Brown BriO
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Medium plus intensity aromas of black and red plums, berries, slight sweet spice, a little compote note tends to slightly jammy. Medium plus intensity acidity, fresh almost crunchy plums, slightly non-intrusive alcohol warmth, a little red berry, very grape and wood tannins, a little savoury note on the finish. Glorious.
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2022 Château Cantenac Brown
France, Bordeaux, Médoc, Margaux
Initially perfumed with slightly dense smelling blackcurrant over plum, very slightly baked notes, a little sweet spice, cedar. Medium plus intensity acidity lends the dark fruit freshness and a certain crunchy appeal, tannins are grippy and woody, drying and chalky textured, fruit persists, slight non-intrusive alcohol warmth on the finished joined by tiny liquorice notes, Needs time to settle as it's slightly out of whack for me
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2022 AltO de Cantenac Brown Blanc
France, Bordeaux
Gooseberry, green apple and a little fresh peach, slight sweet spice, a little cream and biscuit. Pretty nose. Medium plus intensity acidity, slightly less delineated fruit but with more apple, peach over gooseberry, a little textured burr, fresh and fleshy, okay.
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