100 Point Wines

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One of my favourite wines from 2022, utterly seductive from the first sip, this is a stunning effort that shows the power of Pauillac in 2022 delivered with elegance and class. Heavily scented on the nose, full of dark fruits, savoury notes of salty chocolate and floral scents. Smooth and so appealing in the mouth, the texture stands out, deep and rich but soft and chalky, tannins have a subtle powderiness that spreads the mouth, cooling and refreshing giving the minerality while the cool black and blue fruits linger in layers expanding vertically. This is so refined and polished - it’s serious no doubt, not super fun, but it doesn’t need to be, it’s rich and sumptuous with sweet blue fruits balanced by high acidity that keeps the focus and energy. Bright, bold, well worked, clean, crystalline and pure. Somehow delicate and punchy at the same time. A mind-blowing wine that you just have to marvel at with intensity, brightness and vibrancy, building as it goes. A long, clean finish leaves you wanting more, salivating for that next sip. 3.8pH. A potential 100-point wine. 3.8pH. 50% grand vin. Tasted twice.Decanter | 98 DECI love the aromatics here with botanicals as well as currants, blackberries and oranges. Full-bodied with incredible tannins that build on the palate with finesse and focus. Featherlight but always there. Stealth in structure. Very vertical. Savory. Superb. 78% cabernet sauvignon, 17% merlot and 5% cabernet franc.James Suckling | 98-99 JSA blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc, the 2022 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is deep garnet-purple in color. After a little coaxing, aromas of blackcurrant jelly, juicy plums, and wild blueberries waltz out of the glass, followed by nuances of red roses, damp soil, tar, and licorice. The medium-bodied palate is tightly wound, with impressive tension created by mineral-laced, crunchy black fruit layers, framed by firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and savory. pH 3.8.The Wine Independent | 98-100 TWIThe 2022 Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is one wine where a comparison with this estate’s magical 1982 doesn’t appear to be far-fetched. Wafting from the glass with deep aromas of cassis, plums, violets, rose petals, tobacco leaf and pencil shavings, it’s full-bodied, supple and fleshy, with a layered, seamless core of fruit that largely conceals its chassis of powdery structuring tannin. Concluding with a long, expansive and beautifully perfumed finish, it’s a blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc that has the potential to equal or even surpass the 2019 and 2016 vintages at this address. It checks in at a very classical 13.6% alcohol and a rather high pH of 3.80.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97-99 RPOne of the gems from Pauillac is unquestionably the 2022 Château Pichon-Longueville Comtesse De Lalande, which is 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Merlot, and 5% Cabernet Franc. A hypothetical blend of the 2019 and 2020, it’s a full-bodied, concentrated, opulent Comtesse offering beautiful blue fruits, some chocolate, leafy herbs, and undeniable minerality, ripe, velvety tannins, and a great finish. Despite the higher Cabernet Sauvignon component, this stays silky, expansive, and incredibly sexy. It’s going to be drinkable with just 4-5 years of bottle age but should have a lengthy drink window. Hats off to director Nicolas Glumineau for another legendary wine from this château.Jeb Dunnuck | 97-100 JDThe 2022 Pichon-Longueville Comtesse de Lalande is magnificent. In recent years, Estate Director Nicolas Glumineau has pushed Pichon Comtesse to the limit. Maybe even a bit too far. But the 2022 is in the end a super-classic wine that emphasizes mid-weight structure, aromatic presence and persistence more than size. Sweet floral, savory and mineral accents run through a core of ripe, racy red-toned fruit. All the elements are so well balanced. Tasted four times.Vinous Media | 96-99 VM

A real success of the vintage that manages to deliver a bold, structured, concentrated and powerful wine with real terroir signature. You get the impression it’s from a warm vintage, but I love the fact you have texture, volume and weight but keeping the finesse. Fragranced black fruit and purple floral notes with soft medicinal herbal touches on the nose. Sleek and supple, tannins make the impression with juicy blackcurrants, black cherries and strawberries. Excellent tannin definition, they’re filling, massy and round, almost plush but accented by acidity and freshness. Strong signature, you know you’re in gravel with Cabernet. Juicy, clean, pure, but with bite and intensity. I love the dark savoury notes too, the cough syrup, liquorice, clove, tobacco and cigar box elements, complex and captivating. 4% press. 3.65pH 30% whole bunch Petit Verdot in the blend. Potential upsore in bottle. 1% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 60% new oak barrels;Decanter | 97 DECThe polish, texture, complexity and patina are very impressive and fascinating. So spicy and interesting with so much going on. Medium body with wonderfully integrated tannins that are cut and nicely chiselled already. Lemon and violet. 64% cabernet sauvignon, 32% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot.James Suckling | 97-98 JSMoving to the Grand Vin, the 2022 Château Smith Haut Lafitte checks in as 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot. This ripe, powerful, concentrated wine reminds me of the 2010 with its structure, concentrated mid-palate, and just sheer density and regal, full-bodied style on the palate. Despite its size, it stays balanced, has a beautiful perfume of sweet black fruits, graphite, scorched earth, and spring flowers, building tannins, and a great, great finish.Jeb Dunnuck | 96-98 JDThe 2022 Smith Haut Lafitte was cropped at 29hL/ha between 5 and 30 September, undergoing half the extraction, aged in 60% new oak for a planned 18 months. It is fragrant and very pure on the nose: beautiful blackberry, raspberry and liquorice. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant tannins, very elegant and focused, fine-boned with an exceptionally pure and caressing tobacco-tinged finish. This is going to grow to be a wonderful, delicious Smith Haut Lafitte. 14.5% alcohol.Vinous Media | 95-97 VMThe 2022 Smith Haut Lafitte Rouge is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot, with a yield of 29 hl/ha and aging in 60% new oak. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a lot of shaking to wake up notes of blackcurrant jelly, redcurrant preserves, boysenberries, and pencil lead, followed by suggestions of lilacs, Sichuan pepper, and cedar chest. The full-bodied palate is built like a skyscraper, delivering mouth-coating black fruits with red berry sparks supported by rock-solid, firm tannins, finishing very long and with a refreshing mineral lift. pH 3.70.The Wine Independent | 95-97+ TWIThe 2022 Smith Haut Lafitte opens in the glass with attractive aromas of cassis, spices, tobacco, graphite and licorice, followed by a medium to full-bodied palate that is deep and layered, with good depth and powdery structuring tannins that assert themselves on the finish. This blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot will require some patience, given its somewhat extracted style.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94-95 RP

A wine that transcended both my lofty expectations and anything produced at this address in the last 50 years, the 2022 Troplong Mondot realizes all the potential of this striking terroir. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cherries, exotic spices, bay leaf and orange zest, it’s full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, with incredible concentration without weight, supple tannins and a seamless, complete profile, concluding with a long, saline finish. All the work of the last few years in the vineyards and winery makes itself felt, as Troplong Mondot’s vineyards took the hot, dry conditions in their stride, and the quality of the fruit that they produced has been preserved by a gentle vinification and a discreet élevage, featuring only 55% new oak and some 20% of the volume in large foudres.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98-100 RPA supremely excellent Troplong in 2022 that has the hallmarks of a concentrated vintage but delivered with ultimate poise and precision. A joy to taste and once again one of my favourites. Sharp, sleek, sour, bright and cool - I love the instant freshness and drinkability of this, tannins are fresh and detailed with both a plush and cool texture underpinned by layers of flavour with depth and concentration. Clearly muscular but pixelated - it’s not tense, lean or austere but generous, charming and playful. Supple and succulent, still with ripe strawberry, cherry and raspberry fruit, a mix of bright red and black berries with wet stone, liquorice, dark chocolate and graphite giving the terroir. Silky, balanced acidity and overall so well controlled and presented. 3.5pH. Ageing 50% new oak, reduced by 5% plus 21% in 20hl foudre, 24% one wine barrels. 98-100 points. Decanter | 98 DECClearly the finest wine to date under the new team and direction here, the 2022 Château Troplong Mondot reveals a vivid purple hue as well as sensational notes of black raspberries, cassis, acacia flowers, and graphite, with a beautiful underpinning of chalky minerality. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it has flawless balance, ultra-fine tannins, no hard edges, and a great, great finish. The purity, precision, and just sheer class are something to behold.Jeb Dunnuck | 97-99 JDVery attractive aromas of plums and chocolate with hints of raspberry bush and hazelnut. So fresh and even savory with medium to full body. Such a wide tannin structure building up on the palate. Shows depth and length with lots of minerality. Floral. Beautiful already. 85% merlot, 13% cabernet sauvignon and 2% cabernet franc.James Suckling | 97-98 JSThe 2022 Troplong-Mondot was picked from 29 August when it was 31° Celsius, which according to estate director Aymeric de Gironde, felt cool compared to the rest of summer. The alcohol is 14.9% with the pH of 3.48. It sees no SO2 until it is transferred into barrel. The nose is very attractive and certainly very expressive of its limestone terroir: blackberry, briary, crushed iris petal and light marine scents. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy black fruit, quite chalky in texture, that acidic spine governing its overall mouthfeel. Sapid on the finish, this Troplong Mondot builds in the mouth and coats it on the finish. De Gironde and I discussed my previous scores. I always said that he would get better and better during his tenure and this is clearly the case in 2022, the best Troplong Mondot...so far.Vinous Media | 96-98 VMDeep garnet-purple in color, the 2022 Troplong Mondot needs a swirl or two to awaken scents of blueberry compote, juicy blackberries, and Morello cherries, giving way to fragrant wafts of raspberry leaves, wilted roses, Ceylon tea, crushed rocks, and cedar, plus a hint of licorice. The concentrated, big, voluptuous, full-bodied palate is bursting with bright, shiny black and red berry layers, supported by super-plush tannins and fantastic tension, finishing with epic length and loads of mineral sparks. pH 3.48.The Wine Independent | 96-98+ TWI

The 2022 Vieux Château Certan is a wine of tremendous sophistication and polish. I expected to see a more opulent VCC, but the 2022 is surprisingly delicate and nuanced. The blend is 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, which means all the Cabernets at the château were used in Grand Vin. Perhaps that explains the wine’s construction, favoring length, persistence and aromatics more than size. Crème de cassis, lavender, spice and licorice hints linger on the super-expressive finish. There’s really not much more to say except that the 2022 is magical. “Real heat started in June," explained Alexandre Thienpont. “We had 15mm of rain over two days in mid-August that really helped. Even so, yields were 35 hectoliters per hectare, so lower than 2020. Berries weighed less athan a gram and juice yields were low.”Vinous Media | 98-100 VMOne of the wines of the vintage, without a doubt, the 2022 Vieux Château Certan comes from healthy yields of 38 hectoliters per hectare and is 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Jaw-droppingly good in every sense, its deep purple hue is followed by a massive array of black cherries, violets, red plums, chocolate, and violets. This carries to a full-bodied Pomerol with a voluptuously layered mouthfeel, perfect tannins, and a great, great finish. I never find Vieux Château Certan to have the overt power and structure of Petrus, or the feminine elegance of Conseillante, but it’s unrivaled in its texture, seamlessness, and purity. If this doesn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what will. And I’ll be a buyer.Jeb Dunnuck | 98-100 JDGreat expressiveness on the nose; perfumed blackcurrants, black cherries, strawberries, notes of dark chocolate, graphite and liquorice - smells serious. Supple and taught on the palate but with a really juicy core that gives life and energy. Tannins are excellent, giving weight and texture - a combination of chewy and fleshy but with a crushed stone and spiced edge. Lively, bright, intense, concentrated and suave. It’s rich, broad, muscular, complex and nuanced but at the same time stylish with lots of life, balance and freshness. This leaves the most gorgeous lingering expression and a sense that it’s going to be both extremely accessible in its youth and have great ageing potential. 3.78pH. A yield of 35hl/ha.Decanter | 98 DECThe freshness and dynamic sense to the wine is so surprising. Minerally and salty. It’s full yet racy. Black ink and oyster shell. Excellent length. 25% cabernet franc, 5% cabernet sauvignon and the rest, merlot.James Suckling | 98-99 JSA blend of 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon with a yield of 35 hl/ha, the 2022 Vieux Chateau Certan is deep garnet-purple in color. After a swirl or two, notes of black cherry preserves, black raspberries, and juicy black plums rocket out of the glass, followed by suggestions of star anise, lilacs, rose oil, and truffles with a waft of fertile loam. The full-bodied palate slowly grows in the mouth with layers of emerging mineral, floral, and exotic spice nuances intertwined with concentrated black fruits, supported by super-plush tannins and perfectly knit freshness, culminating in a very long-lasting firework display of floral and spice notes. pH 3.78.The Wine Independent | 98-100 TWIA blend of 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon (very similar to the 2019), the 2022 Vieux Château Certan is a magical wine of exemplary harmony and balance. Offering up complex aromas of dark berries and cherries mingled with notions of exotic spices, licorice, iris, violets and loamy soil, it’s full-bodied, supple and seamless, its sweet structuring tannins entirely concealed by a multidimensional core of pure, vibrant fruit. This sensual, perfumed Pomerol is likely to rank alongside the 2019 and 2016 in the pantheon of recent Vieux Château Certan vintages.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97-99 RPA beautifully dense wine blending Merlot and 23% of both Cabernets, with black spice and cedar aromas. There is a straight line of acidity and tight spice followed by pure black-currant flavors. Drink from 2028. Wine Enthusiast | 96 WE