2022 Château Barde Haut

The 2022 Barde-Haut is gorgeous. Rich and explosive, the 2022 offers up copious notes of blueberry jam, crème de cassis, lavender, mint and licorice, with pretty jasmine overtones that add exotic beauty. The tannins here are often a bit burly, but in the 2022 much of that is softened. This is an impressive showing.

A velvety red with lovely creamy tannins, juicy fruit with black berries, spice, ink and boysenberry. Medium to full body with a solid structured and depth. Velvety texture. Hints of sea salt. (2023)

I was blown away by the quality of the 2022 Château Barde-Haut, and this 80/20 split of Merlot and Cabernet Franc does everything right in the vintage. Revealing a deep purple hue as well as stunning aromatics of cassis, spring flowers, black cherries, and truffle, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness and delivers fine-grained tannins and flawless balance. Pure, bright, and lively, yet also deep, concentrated, and textured, it's a brilliant bottle of wine in the making. (05/2023)

The 2022 Barde Haut, 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, is deep garnet-purple in color. It rocks up with ready-to-go notes of plum preserves, baked blackberries, and Indian spices followed by suggestions of tilled soil, Ceylon tea, and black olives. The full-bodied palate is jam packed with tightly wound black fruits and earthy accents, supported by firm, ripe, rounded tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing long and minerally. pH 3.39. (05/2023)

Unwinding in the glass with aromas of plums, wild berries, dark chocolate and creamy new oak, the 2022 Barde-Haut is medium to full-bodied, rich and fleshy, with a taut, youthfully structured profile and youthfully firm tannins. Exhibiting attractive purity of fruit and tension, gentler extraction would have seen it score higher.