2022 Château Margaux

I have never encountered a wild Margaux like this. Cassis and blackcurrant aromas with hints of crushed stones and bitter chocolate. The palate is full-bodied but not heavy or ponderous. Really well-structured with fantastic fine tannins that tighten on the palate, giving this so much liveliness and length. Compacted and energetic at the end. 92% cabernet sauvignon and 6% merlot and 2% cabernet franc. Exceptional. Best after 2029. (01/2025)

The Grand Vin 2022 Château Margaux checks in as 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc that's pulled from just 40% of the total production. Brought up in new barrels, it has a terrific pH of 3.61, which is low for the vintage, and an alcohol of 14.3%, with the highest level of tannins since 2010. It brings another level of purity, elegance, and finesse, and it is just a sensational, legendary Margaux in the making. Crème de cassis blue fruits, spring flowers, lead pencil, and violets all define the bouquet, and it's full-bodied on the palate, with a layered, seamlessly textured, flawlessly balanced profile. While it shows the ripe, pure, already accessible style of the vintage, I wouldn't be surprised to see this close down over the coming 7-8 years, given its density and structure, and it's not going to hit its prime drinking window until 15-20 years after the vintage. It should be one of those wines that evolve gracefully over the following 50-75 years. (02/2025)

The grand vin takes 40% of the harvest, and after Pavillon Rouge this leaves 28% to be divided between the third wine and the bulk wine. The blend is 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, with 6% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the élevage all in new oak. This presents the same forward fruit as in Pavillon Rouge, but here enhanced by notes of tobacco, fine leather, currant and lightly salted black olive, with little notes of crushed oyster shell and violets. The palate is elegant, very svelte, with a serious yet finessed frame, riven with fine powdery tannins which add a superb structure, ripe and finely knit together, harmonious and yet imbuing the palate with a finessed energy. It finishes with a flourish of sweet and dark fruits, with a long grip of finely contracting tannins. Very fine and sinewy, with great freshness, the acidity also giving the wine shape. A stunning example of Margaux, with great length;a future classic, for sure. The alcohol on the label is 14.5% on the label.

- Chris Kissack (06/2025)

The 2022 Château Margaux has come together brilliantly with élevage. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of blackcurrants, blackberries, cedary pencil shavings and pen ink that are deftly framed by new oak, it's full-bodied, dense and layered, with a concentrated core of intensely sweet fruit, broad structural shoulders and a long, resonant finish. With air, it only becomes more voluptuous, yet that's controlled by underlying tannic grip to deliver a more classical profile than was apparent during élevage.

- William Kelley (03/2025)