Margaux 2022: full tasting notes

• Alter Ego de Palmer 2022 (Margaux; 51% Cabernet Sauvignon, 43% Merlot and 6% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 22hl/h; pH 3.73; tasted at Palmer with Thomas Duroux). Glorious lift and great aromatic intensity. Pure, crushed and yet plump and croquant (‘crunchy’) dark berry fruit – cassis and bramble. Grated high cocoa black chocolate with a little trace of violet. Mocha. A hint of the tobacconist’s shop but don’t be mistaken – for this is all about the fruit. Dynamic, racy, vibrant and vivid. This is actually more floral at this stage on the palate than the nose. A nice touch of cracked black peppercorn and a little walnut shell. Texturally wondrous, with brilliant compactness built around a well-enrobed central spine. As for the grand vin, the IPT count (at 72) is high but the tannins are incredibly fine-grained. Above all, this is so sapid, so juicy and yet so silkily-textured with a fabulous fantail on the finish. Very Palmer: stylish as well as elegant and direct and dynamic. 93-95.

• Angludet 2022 (Margaux; 46% Merlot; 40% Cabernet Sauvignon; 14% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 30 hl/ha; 13.5; tasted at the UGC press tasting). There’s a saline touch here that I pick up first alongside the dark berry and stone fruit. Very round and soft and gentle. A nice shape in the mouth; quite tender and the frame nice and tight and slender giving good density. Not overpowered or overpowering but I miss a little of the wild herbal and floral character of the appellation at this nascent stage. There’s a lovely hint of cedar that develops in the empty glass, however, and this will surely turn out well. 90-92.

• Baron de Brane 2022 (Margaux; 65% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30% Merlot; 4% Cabernet Franc; 1% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 31.5 hl/ha; pH 3.57; 14% alcohol; tasted at Brane Cantenac). Limpid. Fresh. Bright. Lifted. Already very Brane. Bright, aerial and fresh with red and black crushed peppercorns intermingling with the fruits of the forest and briary autumnal hedgerow fruits. Succulent, limpid in the mid-palate with a well-defined tight central core packed with fresh berry fruit. So fresh and very vibrant and with a lovely sense of grip to shape the finish. Graphite and cedar and a very natural pleasing sweetness on the finish. Luminous. 92-94.

• Brane Cantenac 2022 (Margaux; 74% Cabernet Sauvignon; 23% Merlot; 1% Cabernet Franc; 1% Carménère; 1% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 31.5 hl/ha; pH 3.61; 14.3% alcohol; tasted a the property). Limpid in the glass and viscous. An utterly brilliant Brane Cantenac build around the old vines on the plateau. Perfectly integrated and harmonious, if slow at first to divulge its secrets. It unfurls gradually, with lovely cedar and graphite encrusted black cherry and black berry fruits, a lovely touch of walnut skins or, indeed, fresh walnuts before the skins have changed colour. A little peony and pink rose petal florality, but all in moderation. The quality of the tannins and even the sapidity in the mid-palate are strangely perceptible even on the nose (I never understand that but you know what this wine will feel like in the mouth from the aromatics alone). Texturally remarkable. This so beautifully epitomises Brane and Margaux. So cool and gracious. A lovely tight frame accentuates the sense of concentration giving this incredible impact in the mouth. Brane in 2022 is all about the vivid fresh fruit. Crystalline and limpid and with great precision. So clear and yet with so much impact and density. Succulent, sapid and tender on the fantail finish before the taper towards a very long and distant horizon. The best yet from Henri Lurton and Christophe Capdeville at Brane. 96-98+.

• Cantenac Brown 2022 (Margaux; 69% Cabernet Sauvignon; 31% Merlot; 13.7% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting). Very pure and precise with lovely redcurrant and blackcurrant fruit, a little redcurrant leaf brining added freshness and with aeration a subtle but lovely spring florality. This is very beautiful, very supple, very delicate yet intense and energetic with a bright, crisp freshness. Diaphanous. The tannins are incredibly refined and this exudes cool elegance. Almost a little Palmer-esque. 93-95+.

• Dauzac 2022 (Margaux; 63% Cabernet Sauvignon; 37% Merlot; 14% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting). A very accomplished wine from Dauzac. Dark stone fruit predominate – plums and black cherries – with a lovely graphite note very evident on the nose with supportive but subtle spices – cracked peppercorns and nutmeg. Pure, lithe, quite crystalline and translucent in the mid-palate, but with quite a lot of amplitude which stretches the fruit just a little thinly, making this less compact than many. But an impressive wine consolidating the upward trajectory here over a number of vintages. 92-94.

• Desmirail 2022 (Margaux; 50% Merlot; 40% Cabernet Sauvignon; 5% Petit Verdot; 5% Cabernet Franc; ‘just’ 13% alcohol; Eric Boissenot as the consultant; re-tasted at the UGC press tasting). Another Margaux classed growth that excels in this vintage and that seems now to be on a steep upward ascent. This has one of the most archetypically Margaux noses of the vintage, with the most beautifully violet-scented floral aromatics. There are lovely rose petal and lavender notes and wild rosemary too. Very attractive and very expressive aromatically, even more so when the cedar notes start to engage with gentle aeration. The palate shows a delicate touch which preserves the freshness of the fruit and prevents any hint of dryness on the finish. Crystalline. Some might expect greater density, but I’m very content with the choices made here. The best ever from Desmirail for me and taking this to a level is has never previously attained in my life time. I’m blown away! 93-95.

• Deyrem Valentin 2022 (Margaux; cru bourgeois supérieur). This is good, but for me it actually lacks a little terroir typicity as this very early stage. It’s definitely a wine of the Médoc, but it lacks a little Margaux personality. Plump, full, rich, with black cherry and plum notes prominent, no evident florality though perhaps a little hint of wild sage. Lithe, plump and pulpy on the palate with an impressive core of ripe stone fruit, grippy tannins and a long finish. It’s very well made, but lacks a little Margaux personality. 89-91.

• Durfort-Vivens 2022 (Margaux; 84% Cabernet Sauvignon; 16% Merlot; a final yield of 30 hl/ha; pH 3.75; 13.5% alcohol; tasted with Gonzague Lurton at the property). A wine of beautiful clarity and great eloquence as ever. Floral – oh so floral – with violets and freshly plucked roses, a little saffron (like the 2016 and more so even than the 2020 at this stage). Black cherry, blueberry and mulberry at first. As it opens the fruit lightens, with more raspberry and loganberry, even a little cranberry. Luscious, sensuous and enveloping in the mouth, this is so incredibly soft, delicate, yet ample with lovely ultra-fine grained tannins detailing the extremities. The extraction has been very carefully managed accentuating the detailed delineation of the mid-palate and its almost glassy luminosity. Very long, precise and focussed on the finish. It’s like something chiselled in real-time rather than constructed in advance. Very lively and bright. Translucent and sinuous too. Overall, this is beautifully formed and shaped and so very Margellais in its identity. The purest expression of its terroir and captivating in this vintage. More like the 2020 than any other recent vintage. 95-97+.

• Ferrière (Margaux; 67% Cabernet Sauvignon; 27% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot; 1% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 24 hl/ha; pH 3.64; 13.7% alcohol; tasted with Claire Villars-Lurton at the property). Floral and rather more like Durfort-Vivens than ever before – though the floral and fruit profiles are quite distinct and rather different (if a little difficult to capture). Violets, not the roses of Durfort, and more lavender and rosemary enrobing the lovely dark forest and autumnal fruits. Fittingly, there’s a touch of sous bois Blueberry and bramble, mulberry and blackberry. Menthol. Sumptuous. Cool in the mouth. Ample and beautifully shaped. It’s actually a touch more austere than Durfort and the fruit and floral elements remain more purple. Lovely crumbly tannins, a little more grainy, but helping to outline the shape of the wine in the mouth. A slowly etiolating long fresh and sapid finish. And it finishes on grape-skins. The best ever from here and a jump in quality and finesse in this vintage. There is more concentration and layering and depth but the same softness and those fabulous floral fireworks. Very lively. The great concentration comes from the old vines here which excelled in this vintage. 94-96.

• Giscours 2022 (Margaux; 64/30/3/3/; a final yield of 27 hl/ha; 13.5% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting). This is another Margaux classed growth with brilliant and captivating aromatics that instantly reveal the identity of the wine. My first scribbled note reads ‘a very Giscours florality’ and that is absolutely right. It’s like having a bunch of roses thrust into one’s hands unexpectedly. There’s also a gracious hint of lilac around the plump red and black cherry fruit and together that says ‘Giscours’ to me. Sumptuous in the mouth, with gossamer tannins and a fabulous evolution over the palate. This has a degree of refinement and subtlety that I think I’ve never previously experienced from Giscours. A wine on fire – even if the cool, focused precision of this wine fabulously disguises the heat of the year that made it, making one think of anything other than fire. Utterly brilliant. 95-97.

• La Gurgue (Margaux; 53% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30% Merlot; 17% Petit Verdot; pH 3.60; a final yield of just 25 hl/ha; 13.25% alcohol; tasted at Ferrière with Claire Villars-Lurton). The vineyard here is next to the white vines of Château Margaux in Soussans. Horse hair; cloves; black cracked peppercorns and a little nutmeg. Dark berry fruit. Blackcurrant sweets. Sloes and damsons and the tension between the sweetness and the freshness that implies. Soft, quite dense and lacking a little delineation in comparison with Ferrière or Durfort (as is to be expected), the tannins a degree less supple for now. Lovely crunchy berry fruit and great sapidity. Very long too. 91-93.

• D’Issan (Margaux; 65% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30% Merlot; 2% Cabernet Franc; 2% Malbec; 1% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 30hl/h yield; pH 3.67; 72IPT). Tiny spring flowers and blooms, lilacs, a little violet, wild thyme and cassis. Alongside Desmirail, Durfort and Ferrière, this is one of the most floral of Margellais expressions in this vintage – though each has a distinct florality. Plunge-pool cool, brilliantly precise and focussed cassis and blackcurrant, a little blueberry too, with graciously soft and svelte tannins. Glorious textural refinement. Nothing too much. All in balance. One of the prettiest wines of the vintage. I love the style being constructed here. 95-97.

• Kirwan (Margaux; 55% Cabernet Sauvignon; 32% Merlot; 7% Cabernet Franc; 6% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 27 hl/ha; pH 3.55; IPT of 77; 14% alcohol; re-tasted at the UGC press tasting). Another top wine of the vintage that is easy to pick blind (easier said, I know, than done). But it’s exactly what you hope it to be. This is wonderfully open and expressive aromatically, with violets and cedar interwoven seemingly with the plump, fresh, cool and crunchy cherry and dark briary fruit. There’s a delicate sous bois note too. In the mouth this is plunge-pool cool and I really like that – it comes from the silky softness of the tannins; but it’s also deep, dark and intense. Gracious, crystalline and then fabulously sapid as the waves of juicy freshness roll in and crash on the shore to form the finish. Lovely. Very Margellais; very Kirwan. There’s a gracious focussed intensity on the finish that I adore. 95-97.

• Labégorce 2022 (Margaux; 50% Cabernet Sauvignon; 45% Merlot; 3% Cabernet Franc; 2% Petit Verdot; pH 3.6; 14% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting). There’s a lovely nuttiness to this on the nose and a very complete and well-integrated aromatic fruit profile of cedar-wrapped blueberry and blackberry fruit. Violets appears with aeration. Quite ample, but with a richly-charged but exquisitely detailed mid-palate that screams classed growth quality. Crystalline, like all the best wines of the appellation in this vintage, luminous, limpid and diaphanous with an sumptuous mouthfeel. Lovely graphite and cedar come through, more and more, with aeration. The tannins are very much more refined than they used to be. 92-94.

• Lascombes 2022 (Margaux; re-tasted at the UGC press tasting). Resplendent in its new (but in fact very traditional) bottle design – a return to the past that sees Lascombes in black, white and red rather than the purple to which we have become accustomed. But the purple is very much still present in the DNA of this wine. Floral, with violets and wild thyme and a hint of lavender, peony too, but less supported by the oak than it used to be – already a subtle hint at the change in style we might see here over the years to come. The florality seems fresher and that continues on the palate which is bright, crisp and crystalline and has more salinity than I’ve noticed in the past – more terroir in effect. There are wines with more delineation and definition and this does not (yet) have the pixilation of the very best wines of the appellation, but I thing we can begin to see the direction of travel here and I, for one, will be excited to follow that evolution. 92-94.

• Malescot St-Exupèry 2022 (Margaux; 55% Cabernet Sauvignon; 32% Merlot; 7% Cabernet Franc; 6% Petit Verdot; pH 3.55; a sample that was difficult to track down and the very last wine that I tasted, a week after the rest). Quite a striking nose of heather, heather flowers, wild oregano, graphite, fountain pen ink and crushed blueberries and black cherries. There’s a little cassis too. In the mouth, the fruit is very pure and tightly bound to the well-defined central spine. Glossily-textured, extremely dense and compact and very impressive. Malescot is often quite a substantial wine, but in 2022 it’s more about compact density and focussed concentration than breadth and amplitude and that gives this more intensity and impact. Luminous and crystalline in the mid-palate and well-framed by powdery tannins this is a great success. 94-96.

• Margaux 2022 (Margaux; 92% Cabernet Sauvignon; 5% Merlot; 3% Cabernet Franc; IPT 88; 14.5%; 40% of the total production; tasted at the property with Sébastien Vergne Margaux’s supremely talented technical director). It was hotter here than in 2003 on average but the old vines really excelled with the result that the grand vin comes from vines with an average age of 45 years. The grapes were tiny, with the Cabernet Sauvignon weighing just 0.8 grams per berry rather than the more usual 1.2 grams. As Sebastien Vergne explained, with just 41 millimetres of rain from July until the end of the harvest, the plant took its water from the grapes! The result is spectacular – the wine of the appellation and conceivably the wine of the entire left-bank. Limpid and viscous in the glass with a punk pink/lilac rim that is almost fluorescent. Aromatically intensely floral. Violets, mimosa, lilac, peony. There’s blood orange and orange blossom too. Wild thyme, even lemon thyme (with its more pronounced freshness and acidity), marjoram. Mulberry, black berry and bramble – very briary – you feel like you might prick you finger picking the fruit for this. There’s a gloriously ‘Margaux’ touch of graphite and a hint of cedar too. Very harmonious and very natural. The Cabernet Franc (even at just 3 per cent) brings lovely complex peppery elements and a slightly different shade to the florality. This has the vintage’s gentle natural sweetness, more so than the 2020 for instance. Fabulous texturally. Cool, with a mirror-pool surface instilling a calm tranquillity and then, ever so slowly, the sapidity and juiciness of the fruit starts to arrive as if from below, building waves, ripples, rivulets and then tiny whirlpools of freshness. This has such a glacial evolution over the palate. The tannins are substantial and we find them on the finish – they grip and almost chisel a fantail before the slow descent all the way to a very distant vanishing point. This has more structure and depth than any other wine of the appellation and is a more genuine vin de garde. It is perhaps less expressive today for that. But for me at least this is the wine of the appellation in this vintage. Every choice seems vindicated. 98-100.

• Marquis d’Alesme 2022 (Margaux; 63% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot; 2% Cabernet Franc; pH 3.6; 14.5% alcohol). A lovely intense shocking pink rim. Limpid. Gloriously floral. Lilac and rose petal and violet – but all hyper concentrated. It’s like being in the parfumier’s boudoir. Graphite too. Dark scented and intense – with blueberry, bramble, mulberry and those lovely green and Szechuan peppercorn notes from the Cabernet and Petit Verdot. Cassis and the additional freshness of blackcurrant leaf– more so than Tour de Mons and Labégorce (tasted alongside). Lithe, very softly textured and so expressive of its Margaux terroir. Sinuous. Impressively concentrated though the fruit is stretched over quite a broad frame. Lush. Glossy. Seductive. Not any obvious trace of wood. 93-95.

• Marquis de Terme 2022 (Margaux; re-tasted at the UGC press tasting). Big, bold, dark and quite extracted – especially coming after Desmirail. Interestingly, however, it seems more subtle and refined at the UGC tasting where it was presented immediately after Lascombes (context is important). But there’s a place for both styles and different degrees of extraction. An aromatically expressive wine with a dark berry and stone fruit, subtle floral notes and a delicate salinity. Naturally sweet on the entry, with gossamer tannins revealing the extremities of a tight core of dark berry and cherry fruit. Not perhaps quite as much detail and delineation as the superstars of the appellation, but impressively intense and packing quite a punch. Long, fresh and with no hint of dryness. 92-94.

• Monbrison 2022 (Margaux; tasted at the UGC press tasting). Briary fruits and a wild heather and herbal florality that I really like – and have noted here before. Pure, lithe, with gloriously soft tannins and a pleasing and very natural sweetness in the mid-palate. Another great success from this under-the-radar property, if not perhaps quite at the level of the 2019 or 2020. This sits very comfortably now alongside the classed growths of the appellation. 92-94.

• Palmer 2022 (Margaux; 51% Cabernet Sauvignon; 45% Merlot; 4% Petit Verdot; a final yield of just 22 hl/ha; pH 3.79; 14.4% alcohol; tasted at the property with Thomas Duroux). Gracious. Lifted. Quite vertical aromatically. Cedar. A touch of pencil shaving. Hedgerow wild flowers. A briary autumnal dark plump berry fruit. This feels wild and natural, with even a hint of heather. Maybe a suggestion of blood orange too. The subtle sweetness is glorious as it feels so totally natural and is balanced so well by an equally natural fresh acidity. I love the Cabernet undertones here – that almost stalky leafiness (it is strange to me now that we used to think of that a negative). Cassis. Crushed berry fruit. All very al dente. Slightly more serious than many. Considerable density but so well disguised. Brilliant detail and pixilation. Again, like Alter Ego this has quite a tight structure with a very well defined spinal column, the tannins detailing the extremities over the palate graciously and slowly. Like Margaux itself, this is more structured and with greater aging potential as a consequence. A divine wine that is wondrously sapid and juicy on the finish. So dynamic, energetic and vibrant. It pushes Margaux close but is very different stylistically. 97-99.

• Pavillon Rouge 2022 (Margaux; 64% Cabernet Sauvignon; 24% Merlot; 7% Petit Verdot; 5% Cabernet Franc; IPT 83; 14.8% alcohol; representing 32% of the harvest; tasted at the property with Sébastien Vergne Margaux’s supremely talented technical director). Gracious. Fruits of the forest. Creamy. Integrated and harmonious. I love the leafy and herbal notes. Dark berries and a little dark stone fruit – black cherries and damsons. This has a tight frame, fully charged with fresh fruit. It is ultra-layered and velvety rather than silky. There’s a brilliant fresh pick up the moment the tannins grip – and they are considerable, but like fine, rolled and polished beads of glass. Pixilated and extremely detailed, with a slight Margaux touch of austerity. Crushed mulberries, with cassis leafy notes in the undergrowth, the berries on top. There’s more graphite than cedar at this stage, a touch of liquorice and that saline minerality alongside the crushed rock note. Super clear, translucent and graciously tapering on the lengthy finish. It is a little more substantial than I had imagined, bigger and more tannic than the 2020. 94-96+.

• Prieuré-Lichine 2022 (Margaux; 65% Cabernet Sauvignon; 30% Merlot; 5%; a final yield of 32 hl/ha; 13.5% alcohol; Stephane Derenencourt is the consultant here; tasted at the UGC press tasting). Very peppery aromatically this year and with a distinct aromatic profile of fruits of the forest, a little black cherry, walnut and pencil-shavings. The tannins are more granular than many of the leading wines of the appellation, but I like the densely fruit-filled compact and well-structured mid-palate. Tender, lithe and cool on the finish. A nice balance. Very dark fruited. 93-95.

• Rauzan-Gassies 2022 (Margaux; 76% Cabernet Sauvignon; 24% Merlot; tasted at the UGC press tasting). A delicate will rose florality, black cherry fruit and a little graphite frame an enticing and seductive nose. The tannins are fine-grained but more granular than most of the classed growth and I find that this, though crystalline, is a little monotonic and lacking detail in the mid-palate at least in comparison with some of its peers. A property moving upwards, but still with a little journey ahead to see it restore itself to its rightful place in the classification. Just a little subdued. 91-93.

• Rauzan-Ségla 2022 (Margaux; 72% Cabernet Sauvignon; 26% Merlot; 2% Petit Verdot; a final yield of 30 hl/ha; 14.5% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting). Opulent, gracious and voluptuous in equal measure, this has a fabulously well-integrated and complete nose – there is cedar, graphite, dark berry and stone fruit, almost a little black forest gateau and the finest grated dark chocolate. Incredibly velvety and ample, with impressive layering and pixilated detail. When the tannins grip this carves out, as it builds, a second wave more charged with juicy freshness. Very impressive and confirming every positive expectation one could have for it. 96-98.

• Siran 2022 (Margaux; 53% Merlot; 36% Cabernet Sauvignon; 11% Petit Verdot; tasted at the UGC press tasting and at Siran with Edouard Miailhe). So beautiful on the nose with one of the most intensely floral of the aromatic profiles of the appellation – violet, peony, crushed rose petals, indeed the parfumier’s essence of each interwoven seamlessly with plump, dark, crisp and crunchy bramble, mulberry and black cherry fruit. Lots of freshness charges through the mid-palate, which is densely packed and yet diaphanous and always outlined by the most fine-grained and gossamer of tannins. Exudes class and, of course, would have been classified in 1855 were to not for a certain accident of history! As refined a wine as I have ever tasted here. 93-95.

• Du Tertre 2022 (Margaux; 57% Cabernet Sauvignon; 23% Cabernet Franc; 15% Merlot; 5% Petit Verdot; 13.5% alcohol; tasted at the UGC press tasting). Brilliant and by some distance the best I have ever tasted from here – like Desmirail, Ferrière, d’Issan and Siran, perhaps the most floral of the Margaux wines in this vintage. Gorgeous cedar, plunge-pool softness, super plump black cherries, walnut and graphite. Very long, very refined, with exquisitely soft tannins. Ample and yet compact. Bravo! 93-95.

• La Tour de Bessan (Margaux; tasted somewhat by chance in a Bordeaux restaurant). Pretty and, above all, archetypally Margaux, with a nice delicate herbal florality. A little hint of cedar too. Supple, delicate and soft on the entry with great precision and elegance, just as it should have. There’s a pleasing tenderness to this too. As well, one finds a decent volume of fine-grained tannins to see this reach its middle age gracefully. This is accessible, highly representative of the appellation and sapid on the finish. Very fine; gently undemonstrative. 90-92.

• Tour de Mons (Margaux; 57% Merlot; 36% Cabernet Sauvignon; 4% Petit Verdot; 3% Cabernet Franc; aged in oak barrels, 20% of which are new; this has been picked by hand since its acquisition in 2020). A fair bit of replanting is still going on in this distinctive vineyard surrounded on three sides by forest to the north of Labégorce. Fresh. Lifted. Quite rich. Lovely intense violets, lavender and wild rosemary on the nose. Very expressive aromatically, and in fact rather more delicate than one might at first imagine on the palate. Very much a Merlot-defined Margaux, though with the florality and green peppercorn notes coming from the Cabernet and Petit Verdot. Quite sweet on the palate, turning the violet towards Palma violet. Refined, soft and succulent with fine-grained tannins, an enticing plump dark berry fruit – blueberry and raspberry; maybe a little damson too. Very fine. 91-93.

Please click link for db’s 2022 en primeur vintage report, along with appellation-by-appellation reviews (links updated as they become available) on Margaux, St Julien, Pessac-Leognan & Graves rouge and blanc, St Estèphe & Haut-Medoc, Pauillac, Pomerol, Saint-Émilion and Sauternes.

Read more:

Bordeaux 2022: Miraculous majesty (thedrinksbusiness.com)

Bordeaux 2022 vintage report: The questions still to be answered (thedrinksbusiness.com)

Bordeaux 2022 vintage report: Mysterious majesty forged from the enigma of climatic excess (thedrinksbusiness.com)