Château La Violette 2022

The 2022 La Violette has a perfumed bouquet, with potpourri infusing the vibrant red fruit, well defined and focused. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins, a touch of bell pepper (as if there were some Cabernet Franc in this 100% Merlot), slightly powdery in texture with an off-dry finish. A little serious. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.

Flowers, black cherries, licorice, and espresso beans crowd into the perfume. Full-bodied, dense, concentrated, and lushly textured, the creamy finish is packed with layers of black, blue, and red fruits providing length and width. The wine was produced from 100% Merlot. Drink from 2028-2050.

A beautiful deep red with lively highlights. The nose is intense and refined, fruity, creamy and spicy. Precise on the attack, with a delicate texture, the wine glides and caresses—calm and poised. After the mid-palate, it builds momentum and finishes long, ever caressing and noble. A whole that’s very hard to spit out!

From a tiny vineyard which amounts to just 1.68 hectares of vines, with just 1.26 hectares in production, and a low yield of just over 23 hl/ha. This is 100% Merlot of course, hand-picked, hand-destemmed and micro-vinified in barrels, with an élevage lasting 16 months. The nose is dark and smoky, with currant and blackberry fruits, swirled with tobacco, plum cake, toasted sandalwood and black bean. This translates onto a harmonious palate, fresh and supple, with a darker core of fruit than the nose suggested, and a slow building backbone of tannins, the entirety working together harmoniously to form a polished, gently structured finish. A stylish but structured wine, with dark and minty fruits, which requires plenty of cellar time to prove itself. This is better than I thought at the primeurs. The alcohol is declared to be 14.5%.

Tasted blind. Paler than some. Sweet, mellow and surprisingly ready. (JR)