The Wine Independent (92-94)

The 2022 Latour-Martillac Blanc strides confidently out of the glass with pronounced notes of spiced apples, juicy peaches, and green mango, followed by hints of lime leaves and chalk dust. The medium-bodied palate delivers great intensity, with a refreshing line and long, zesty finish.

James Suckling (94-95)

A medium- to full-bodied red with fine and lightly chewy tannins. Lots of dark chocolate, crushed stone and graphite flavors at the end. Subtle. 62.1% merlot, 21.9% cabernet sauvignon, 14.5% cabernet franc and 1.5% petit verdot.

Decanter (94)

Fragranced and scented, so appealing, rich, vibrant, alive on the nose, black and blue fruits with purple flowers. Juicy and alive in the mouth, straight away the acidity makes the mark, clean and clear, with bite and tang, so thrilling, energetic and racy but then the tannins come in, slightly chalky, grippy and firm giving the texture - serious but with a touch of sweetness that gives a playful aspect. Well constructed, precise but weighty, intense and concentrated. A great wine that gives depth, complexity and persistence but with such great drinkability - and grand vin quality.

James Suckling (95-96)

The Petit Mouton is more and more structured and intense. It's made for the cellar. Full to medium body. Lively and intense. Solid. 71% cabernet sauvignon, 19% merlot, 7% cabernet franc, and 3% petit verdot.

The Wine Cellar Insider (94)

Showing a nice depth of color, the wine exudes cigar box, cedar, mint, currants, and blackberries. Elegant, fresh, and balanced, the wine delivers its layers of sweet, ripe, black, and red fruits effortlessly. This is the finest vintage of Le Petit Haut Lafitte ever produced. It promises to drink well for at least 15 years or more. The wine is made from a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 40% Merlot. Drink from 2025-2040.

James Suckling (94-95)

Pretty apples, pears and lemons with crushed stone. Medium to full body. Creamy texture. Bright and lively acidity at the end. 80% sauvignon blanc and 20% semillon.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (94)

Silky velvet texture to the wine, luscious black cherry and damson fruits with edges of black chocolate and mint. 3.65ph, harvest September 5 to 30, with hands off methods used in the cellar during fermentation. Clay and chamomile used to protect the grapes against the heat. Fabien Teitgen technical director

Vinous - Neal Martin (96-98)

The 2022 Léoville Barton was picked between 8 and 23 September at 30hL/ha and matured in 60% new oak. This represents the first vintage that has been vinified using gravity and cuvons (basically vats on wheels!) in their newly-built winery. The nose makes an instant impact with intense black cherry, bilberry and violet aromas. A nuanced estuarine/oyster shell scent emerges with time in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with finely-chiseled tannins, fabulous precision, a killer line of acidity and more mineralité on the finish, that it knows what to do with. This is a precision-tooled Léoville Barton with the sharpness of a samurai sword. The 2022 marks the start of a new and glorious chapter for the Saint-Julien estate, which passes in the slipstream of the 22019 and 2022. It constitutes the finest Léoville Barton that I have tasted out of barrel. Tasted three times.

James Suckling (99-100)

This shows no gravity. The tannins are totally melted in the wine and give it fantastic structure, but the texture is so fresh and vivid. Crushed stone. Cloves. Chinese spices. Great finish. Opening and flying away. Orange peel. Very special. Thought-provoking. Endless. 83.5% cabernet sauvignon, 10.5% cabernet franc and 6% merlot.

Jeb Dunnuck (97-100)

I was blown away by the 2022 Château Léoville Poyferré, which is a classic blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot, and 4% each of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Harvest spanned from the 8th to the 28th of September, the vinification is in tronconique tanks (parcel by parcel), and the élevage will span 18-20 months in 80% new barrels. This inky hued beauty offers that rare mix of power and elegance and offers ample cassis and assorted blue fruits, full-bodied richness, an opulent, concentrated, yet flawlessly balanced mouthfeel, velvety tannins, and plenty of classic Saint-Julien violets, espresso roast, and crushed stone-like minerality. Despite its incredible concentration and depth, it stays beautifully balanced. In a region that seems to only talk about finesse and elegance, it's a relief to still have producers such as this producing powerful, intense, singular wines. Hats off to the Cuvelier family and their team.

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.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (92)

On brand in its intensity, with excellent texture, plenty of luscious black fruits, edges of pomegrante and cassis, big tannins, well blanced. Muscular and concentrated.

Jeb Dunnuck (94-96)

A solid step up over the Les Tourelles, the 2022 Les Griffons De Pichon Baron is also Merlot-dominated and checks in as 50% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 4% Petit Verdot that will spend 18 months in 40% new French oak. Gorgeously pure cassis, smoked earth, graphite, tobacco, and crushed stone define the aromatics, and it's full-bodied, with a layer, concentrated mid-palate, fine tannins, and a great finish. The purity and precision here are truly something.

James Suckling (97-98)

This zooms over the palate from the minute you taste it with energetic acidity, grapefruit, pear, lemon and white peach character. Dried, candied lemon. Crushed stone, too. Medium-bodied with polish and class. 90% sauvignon blanc, 5% semillon and 5% sauvignon gris.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (93)

Intense colour, marzipan and fennel, caraway seeds, cracked pepper, very classic St Est�phe in that it has just a ton of cassis and bilberry fruit, with chewy tannins that have you wading through the mid palate. This is clearly extremely well made, almost 2010 in feel, with balance and confidence. Due for certifcation organic in 2024, now in conversion. Highest amount of Petit Verdot at this estate, lost around 30% of the crop through hail and frost in northern St Est�phe. 35% new oak barrels, alongside larger sized oak casks for ageing.

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.

James Suckling (97-98)

Very sophisticated and structured yet weightless and agile, with a finesse, precision and length that is so wonderful. So precise and complex with vivid acidity and length. Such clarity. Really excited about this one.

Jeb Dunnuck (94-96)

The 2022 Château Malescot Saint Exupéry is gorgeous and certainly a Margaux worth seeking out. Dense purple-hued, with a rich, powerful bouquet of ripe black fruits, melted chocolate, smoked tobacco, and spice, it picks up a beautiful floral character with air, is full-bodied, and has a layered, opulent mouthfeel as well as a great finish. It shows the vintage's building yet velvety tannins and is going to warrant just 4-5 years or more of bottle age, but it's a brilliant wine in the making.

Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux (98-100)

Stunning in its density and construction, with a gorgeous balance that starts with red rose aromatics and slides into creamy and intense raspberry, damson, loganberry and cassis fruits. The intense structure of the vintage is on display, here with velvety tannins giving shape and contrast by a push and pull of slate, graphite, cloves, turmeric, cardamom and white pepper. Bitter dark chocolate ending, a character of the year but here delivered with a blast of cooling mint leaf. Philippe Bascaules director, harvest September 8 to 27, 25hl/h yield. 100% new oak, to be monitored carefully over ageing because this is the first time they have seen this level of alcohol in the Cabernet Sauvignon. 40% of the crop is into this 1st wine, one of the highest in years. Harvest September 8 to 27. They are slowly changing the row orientation in the vineyard at Margaux, begun last year but a 50 year project, and introducing more Cabernet Franc through field grafting (wanting to get up to maybe 15% of plantings, currently 5%).

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.

James Suckling (93-94)

A racy and refined red with currants and crushed stone character as well as ovaltine. Medium-bodied. Polished and focused.

James Suckling (93-94)

Blackcurrant, black olive and black berry aromas and flavors. Full and chewy with very polished tannins. It’s all integrated and focused. Solid young wine here.

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++