Wine Advocate (99-100)

The remarkable 2022 Les Carmes Haut-Brion is a strong candidate for the title of wine of the vintage. It's also one of the most singular, characterful wines being produced in the region today. Unfurling in the glass with complex aromas of blackberries and cherries mingled with notions of exotic spices, orange zest, pencil lead, rose petals and vine smoke, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a velvety attack that segues into a layered, seamless and multidimensional mid-palate framed by rich, powdery tannins. Pure, perfumed and penetrating, this blend of 40% Cabernet Franc, 34% Cabernet Sauvignon and 26% Merlot is a brilliant success that caps a decade of relentless work by Guillaume Pouthier and his team that have seen Les Carmes Haut-Brion emerge as one of Bordeaux's leading estates. It checks in at a mere 13.5% alcohol, with a very healthy pH of 3.64.

James Suckling (98-99)

Wow. Blackcurrants, blueberries, blackberries and flowers. Full-bodied with beautifully integrated tannins that melt into the wine. Persistent and precise. A fantastic wine for the cellar. 66% cabernet sauvignon, 28% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 3% petit verdot.

James Suckling (94-95)

Extremely well done with a full body and nicely integrated tannins that give this tension and power. The structure is wonderful. Minty. Chocolate-covered coffee beans. Serious but fun.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (96)

Deep plum colour, plush damson and black cherry, with a well textured grain to the tannins that stops things being overly sweet. This is a brilliant Malartic-Lagravi�re, just absoutely hits the spot between excess and restaint, so much detail and concentration to the fruit, and it manages to pull up just short of too much, delivering a cooler blueberry and mint leaf exit that draws things out through the palate and opens things up for a smoky woodfire soot edge. Total class.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (95)

Glass-staining purple gives vibrancy and sets the tone for the stunning depths and character of the wine. This has so much texture, with rippling powerful cassis and blueberry fruit, slate and pummice stone, grips on through the palate, and like the best 2022s manages to be extremely ripe without being overly sweet, with a build up of tannins that gives structure without being drying. As it opens you get pulses of pummice stone minerality, and floral aromatics. Harvest September 15 to October 4. 60% new oak. Marjolaine de Coninck CEO and technical director. The blend given is planted, not as per final wine, allowing slight evolution over ageing, so these are ones to check back in on when in bottle.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (95)

A vineryard that should perform strongly in this kind of vintage, because located right next to the river for air conditioning, with a mix of gravel with clear clay sections to retain freshness, and it's definitely one to look out for. Layers of redcurrant, raspberry and blackcurrant fruits, juicy mouthwatering finish, peony, pencil lead, orange peel, 3.75ph. Certainly this is a great example of Meyney. Hubert de BoŸard consultant. A buy.

Wine Advocate (99-100)

The 2022 Montrose is such a compelling wine that assigning it a bracketed score seems a mere formality. A brilliant terroir, impeccable viticulture, perfectly timed harvest dates and judicious extraction have aligned to deliver a monument in the making, reminiscent of a far purer, more precise, modern-day version of the 1990 vintage at this address. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark berries, cassis, violets, iris, pencil lead and cigar wrapper, it's full-bodied, deep and authoritative, its velvety attack segueing into a layered, elegantly muscular core that's framed by supple, powdery tannins, concluding with a long, resonant finish. A blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, this only confirms Montrose's status as a de facto first growth and unquestionably one of the contemporary Médoc's very greatest estates.

Matthew Jukes (20++)

This wine is the last in the line-up when one tastes at Mouton. It is like a vinous pole-vault competition... But you can imagine that the adrenaline is pumping when I arrive at the Grand Vin, and the standards are sky high. I will leave this meandering metaphor now as the crowd claps in unison and I set off down the runway. This magnificent wine has so much more reserve, control and composure than I could have imagined. It is as if every element of its preparation has been perfected and delivered in perfect harmony. We know that the weather patterns were nothing short of terrifying in 2022 as the mercury rose and the viti-teams had more to offer apart from faith in the vines. But this faith was not misguided, and the vines performed miracles. This is a less flamboyant wine than I was expecting. It seems to have no time for showiness or exhibitionist behaviour. Instead, it is as deep as the Mariana Trench in colour and serenity. There is no easy way to tackle this wine, and it requires effort to tease out strands of information from the untold complexity of this palate conundrum. This wine could only be Mouton given its stance, intensity and flavour profile, and yet no Mouton has ever come close to the shape, style and delivery of its panoply of flavours. It is a wicked combination of darkness and freshness, and while it detonates cassis on the palate, this is not an exotic wine but a severely dramatic one with epic lift and energy on the finish, and it is clear that there is so much behind the scenes it boggles the mind. The texture on the finish is emery-board fine cold embers dust the taste buds with mouth-watering results. And while this is a well-behaved and mannerly wine, as you would expect, what we see on the surface now is most likely not what we will see in the chapters of flavour that emerge over time. This incredible wine opened up bit by bit over the half an hour of my visit, and I venture it would still be doing so today. I cannot imagine how this wine could be improved, so I am thrilled to award Mouton Rothschild a perfect score. 20++

Jeb Dunnuck (93-95)

Another brilliant Saint-Estèphe, the 2022 Château Ormes De Pez offers up lots of ripe blue and black fruits as well textbook earth, crushed stone, and graphite. Showing more nuance and floral notes with time in the glass, this medium to full-bodied effort has plenty of mid-palate depth, velvety yet building tannins, and nicely integrated background oak. This serious wine is worth seeking out. Tasted twice.

James Suckling (97-98)

This is a very structured 2022 with powerful tannins that run the length of the wine. Yet it’s perfumed and fresh with flowers and subtle undertones of stone. Pure. It’s full but not heavy with backbone and structure. Lots of crushed stone and currants. One of the most transparent you Pape’s I have tasted. 60% merlot and 40% cabernet sauvignon.

Decanter (95)

Floral and fragrant, really perfumed and scented, inviting, deep and cool. Sleek and silky, the fruit has gorgeous purity and cleanliness, with tannins that are filling and ripe but also have bite and grip. The wine has power but delivered so delicately with tannins that give a sculpted element to the profile with precision and definition. Feels extremely polished, on the tense and straight side, the Cabernet is not so expansive or plush but this feels like it has that Pauillac swagger with lots of life and energy. Very drinkable and impressive from director Vincent Bache-Gabrielsen. 16% press wine, usually 12-13%. New label as of 2022 celebrating organic certification. 3% completes the blend. Total acidity: 3.7. 65% new oak barrels. 3.86pH.

James Suckling (96-97)

Loads of fruit here. Energetic, with layers of tannins. Full-bodied. It builds at the end and opens like a butterfly. Hints of minerals and iron. Best ever? 56% merlot, 40% cabernet sauvignon, 2% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot.

James Suckling (99-100)

What a finish on this Pontet-Canet. So much energy and brightness. It's full-bodied yet so tight and focused with superb fruit and transparency. It is racy and fine with super fine texture. It's like crushed cabernet sauvignon with cassis, tobacco and cigar box. Licorice and spices. Freshness of the seed. 57% cabernet sauvignon, 35% merlot, 4% cabernet franc, and 4% petit verdot.

The Wine Cellar Insider (98-100)

Inky dark in color, the wine requests a bit of effort before jumping into its nose of spice, cigar wrapper, blackberries, black currants, flowers, wet earth, and smoke. On your palate, the purity in the fruit, elegance, and lift is there. But what stands out is the width in your mouth as the wine caresses every part of your palate with its silky textures, and richness. The finish seals the deal as the wine has real staying power, staying with you for over 50 seconds! Harvesting took place from September 5 - September 30. Yields were low at 28 hectoliters per hectare. The wine is a blend of 64% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 1% Petit Verdot, and is aging in 60% New, French oak barrels for 18 months. 14.5% ABV. pH 3.55. Is this the best vintage of Smith Haut Lafitte ever produced? Maybe. Let's revisit when the wine is in the bottle.

Decanter (95)

A great effort in 2022 with such excellent precision and detail to the tannins and fruit. Cool blueberries, blackcurrants, cola, vanilla, tobacco and liquorice all give nuance and interest with fleshy tannins and bright acidity. Great balance of intensity and finesse with such energy from start to finish. Really quite approachable and enjoyable with impressive crystalline aspects and a lovely sense of place. Tasted twice. A yield of 40hl/ha. Ageing 16 months in barrels, 60% new. Harvest 9-28 September. 3.75pH.

Jeb Dunnuck (94-96)

Lots of plums, blue and black fruits, earth, chocolate, and hints of earth all emerge from the 2022 Château Tronquoy, a full-bodied, pure, powerful Saint-Estèphe with impressive tannins and a great finish. It shows more floral and red-fruited nuances with time in the glass, and this is clearly a beautiful wine in the making. It shows the ripeness of the vintage while staying pure, balanced, and seamless.