We started the morning driving in the rain to Château Canon La Gaffelière for our 9am appointment with the charismatic Comte Stephan von Neipperg and his portfolio of wines; Clos Marsalette (Pessac-Léognan), Château d’Aiguihle (Castillon) and Clos de L’Oratoire, Canon La Gaffelière and La Mondotte (Saint-Émilion). It was surprising to learn that despite a vintage with three droughts, Clos Marsalette has a low alcohol of 12.8%, and charming with plenty of class like the Comte himself.
A quick dash up the hill for our next tasting at Château Canon where there were no surprises to find this property was firing on target. We were fortunate to receive two samples directly from two individual barrels, followed by a pre-prepared sample alongside Château Berliquet, their neighbouring property. Both will be on our must buy list.
From Canon across the top of the plateau we headed to Château Figeac where they more than deserve their new “Premier Grand Cru Classé A” status. I thought it potentially as good as their excellent 2016 vintage.
Our next appointment was to taste through Gerard Perses’ collection at Château Pavie, which included Clos Lunnelles (Castillon) and Château Monbousquet, Les Aromes de Pavie and their Grand Vin: Château Pavie (all Saint-Émilion). The ripeness of tannin in the vintage made them less aggressive than usual, however, the wines were extremely fruit dominated, perhaps they tried a little too hard when a more subtle approach would have been the better option in 2022.
We then crossed the border into Pomerol to one of my favourite estates: Vieux Chateau Certan (VCC). Our tasting was led by Guillaume Thienpoint, joint winemaker with his father Alexandre. Thienpoint Sr noted their 2022 offering is “complete and unique... the tannins are coated so they do not feel heavy”. Wow, what a wine! Albeit still early in the week and there are still many wines to taste, VCC is already a potential front runner for my wine of the vintage so far.
It was then off to the first Union des Grands Crus (UGC) tasting of the day at Chateau Valandraud. Clos Fortet and Château La Gaffelière were the two standouts true to form, however, Château Grand Mayne and Château La Tour Figeac shone brightly. Lunch was kindly provided at Valandraud, yet due to large crowds we decided to crack on and go to the UGC Pomerol tasting before our afternoon appointment at Château Cheval Blanc.
Hosting the UGC Pomerol tasting was Château Beauregard, the two wines that impressed us most were Château Rouget and Chateau Clinet. I can say for sure it’s the best Rouget that I’ve tasted to date, and we are extremely delighted for them; it’s a property we have followed closely for many years and feel they will now start to get the recognition they deserve!
We galloped across the vines to Château Cheval Blanc for an in-depth explanation and tasting of the 2022 vintage. For them it was the hottest on record, more so than 2003, and the earliest ever picked; 80% of the Merlot had been harvested by end of August. This was our first 1st Growth of the campaign. It was truly astonishing how the wines have so much power, concentration, and sophistication, yet they still have wonderful elegance, purity, and grace. Château Quinault L’Enclos deserves a mention too, made by the team at Cheval Blanc and usually costs around £300 a case. Other important news from Cheval Blanc is like in 2015 they did not create their second wine (Le Petit Cheval), as all grapes were used in the Grand Vin.
Our next appointment was less than one kilometre away across the Pomerol border at Château La Conseillante. I’ve always been a big fan of this estate and Marielle Cazaux (Managing Director and Winemaker) deems it to be the best vintage she has made during her tenure having arrived in 2015. Praise indeed, it did not disappoint.
Back to Saint-Émilion and Château Angélus where we were warmly greeted by Hubert de Boüard. He talked us through the vintage as we tasted his excellent Carillon d’Angelus, which used to be their second wine but now sourced from separate vineyards. The bells were ringing loudly at Angélus… bravo Hubert et toute l’équipe!
Once again we headed back across the plateau to Château L’Évangile (Lafite Rothschild’s Pomerol property) for our penultimate visit of the day. Although their vines suffered from heat stress in 2022, the quality of their Grand Vin is superb. In order to maintain their position at the top tier, 50% has gone into the 2nd wine Blason de l’Évangile.
Our final stop of the day was Château Nénin where we sampled their Grand Vin, and second wine: Fugue de Nénin as well as Château Pontensac (Médoc), Clos de Marquis (Saint-Julien) and Léoville Las Cases, all owned by the Domaine Delon collection. I must admit, I believe it was amongst the best Potensac that I’ve tasted from barrel.
As we finished earlier than we had expected, Charles went to taste the wines of Clos Cantenac with Martin Krajewski as he missed out on Saturday. We really do put in the hours!
An al fresco supper with friends at Le Lac; having a beer and lots of wine chat… it’s great to be back in Bordeaux!
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