Couvent des Jacobins 2022

Gorgeous aromatic intensity on the nose, fragrant and open, really inviting. Salty, mineral tang is at the fore, giving quite a lean and clean expression with purity rather than overt density or plushness. Tannins are slick and fine, offering a relatively straight and direct frame while the black fruit has energy and drive. Lovely expression, easy to enjoy yet with bite and tension and a touch of density on the finish. Crystalline and clean. Maybe a touch watery.

82% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, 4% Petit Verdot. Cask sample. Creamy texture suggested by the opulent nose. Sweet start and quite luscious, traditional St-Émilion. Should satisfy old hands with its fruit-cake flavours. No great persistence but quite a bit of tannin. (JR)

The 2022 Couvent des Jacobins is quite the powerhouse. Blackberry, gravel, spice, leather, incense and cloves contribute to an impression of virile, brooding power that is matched by the wine’s tannic heft. Couvent des Jacobins is not a subtle wine, but it channels its power well. Lifted floral and savory overtones extend the finish.

Deep and dark in color and flavor, with layers of black fruits, espresso, and chocolate on the palate, as well as in the aromatic profile. The chocolatey finish is lusciously textured, with a delicate touch of salt on the endnote. Drink from 2025–2040.

Deep dark ruby garnet colour with an opaque core and purple reflections, subtle brightening at the rim. Delicately floral, ripe red heart cherries, hints of vanilla and plums, inviting bouquet. Textured, elegant, blackberry fruit, vivid, integrated tannins, savoury, mineral and salty on the finish, good ageing potential.

Black cherries, loamy, damp earth, tobacco, and flowery incense notes all emerge from the 2022 Couvent Des Jacobins, a ripe, opulent, sexy 2022 that brings beautiful complexity and richness, a round, layered, seamless mouthfeel, and a great finish. It's a ripe, unctuous, yet still classic, complex beauty from this estate, as well as the finest vintage I've tasted from them. Based on 82% Merlot, 14% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot, drink bottles any time over the coming two decades.

Brushed velvet tannins, plenty of tannic grip and a spicy core, this has the character of the vintage, with an architecture that is a little chunky and takes its time to stretch out, but once it relaxes, the finish is long and refreshing, with edges of rosemary, sage, saffron and slate. Enjoyable. 45% new oak

Filigreed and precise, the bouquet of Couvent des Jacobins is devoted to detail, subtlety, and harmony between elements as delicate as each other, with nuances of cherry, elderberry, and spices. Elegance appears on the palate from the very first attack. It is the common thread of the wine, accompanied by fine-grained tannins and a structuring acidity. A serene, determined, and thirst-quenching Couvent des Jacobins that will delight many palates for a long time to come!

The nose is fruity and fresh, with flesh, good definition, well-managed ripeness, purity, a delicate textured edge, and lovely, balanced richness. It reveals notes of morello cherry, ripe wild blackberry and, more subtly, violet, together with touches of roasted red berries, juicy/pulpy purple plum, hints of star anise, fine hints of fresh pepper, graphene, cocoa and fresh sweet spices. The palate is fruity and balanced, offering minerality, freshness, good definition, a certain gourmandise, juiciness, a fine dark touch, a delicate infusion-like character, and a tangy backbone. Beautiful freshness, juiciness and fruit flesh. On the palate, the wine expresses notes of pulpy/bright blackberry, pulpy bigarreau cherry and, more subtly, violet, combined with touches of mocha, camphor, hints of roasted red berries, cornflower, licorice stick, toasted almond, camphor, toasted/roasted hazelnut, and a subtle hint of coffee on the finish. The tannins are elegant, supple, fresh and sapid. A very discreet sappy note lingers on the finish.