Le Comte de Malartic 2022

Clean and crisp, with a lovely creamy, cool minty freshness and blackcurrants. This feels really well controlled, not shouting too much but confident and really quite enjoyable. Charming and full, still compact but also generous and well crafted. An impressive second wine with fruit, acidity and juiciness while still keeping precision and detail. Lovely! Easy to recommend.

Deep ruby colour, purple reflections, subtle ochre rim. Subtle dark cherry fruit with tobacco undertones, hints of cassis, some nougat, subtle herbal notes. Medium body, taut, red berries, fresh acidity, fine savoury tannins, salty and mineral, an energetic food wine, versatile.

The 2022 Château Malartic-Lagravière Le Comte De Malartic is based on 91% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon raised in 30% new French oak. It's a forward, charming, classic second wine with textbook Graves notes of ripe red and black fruits, smoky tobacco, and loamy earth. It's medium to full-bodied, round, supple, and undeniably delicious, with a solid mid-palate depth, balance, and length.

Silky black fruit, a ton of cinnamon spice, fig, graphite and smoked earth, plenty of impact and intensity, firm tannins, a trace of heat. Lovely stuff from the Bonnie family.

Fresh and expressive, the nose opens with notes of small black fruits that seem to vibrate with a spring breeze, with a warm, tempting touch—like sun-warmed beach sand inviting you to stretch out. The acidity provides a guiding thread to a texture that is both bright and serious, with perfectly satin-smooth tannins before a delicious finish of black pepper and spices.

The dominance of Merlot is obvious. Not only on paper, at 91.5%, but also on the nose. The bouquet is indulgent… and fresh! The attack stays the course toward charm, but the tannic structure isn’t intimidated and puts forward a convincing argument that gives this wine depth. An inviting and promising Pessac-Léognan!