D'Armailhac 2022 (750ML)

96-97 JS / 94-96 JD / 95 DE / 93-95 VM / 93-95 WI / 94 JA / 92-94 WA

This is like a baby Mouton this year with blackcurrant, flower, and orange aromas. Medium- to full-bodied with a tight and racy palate that shows persistence and verve. One to watch. - James Suckling

Another wine that showed beautifully on multiple occasions, the 2022 Château D'Armailhac checks in as 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Petit Verdot. This deep purple-hued beauty offers up a full-bodied, ripe, sexy profile that carries lots of blueberry, cherry, and cassis fruit, notes of spice, leafy herbs, and chocolate, velvety tannins, good acidity, and a great finish. It should have a broad, lengthy drink window. - Jeb Dunnuck

Strongly scented and perfumed on the nose, dark fruits, lively and lithe, supple and smooth on the palate, richly concentrated in terms of fruit density but sleek and stylish on the palate with a burst of bright and fresh blackcurrants and black cherries. Has a tang to it, the acidity and liveliness fills the mid palate before the stony tannins come in towards the end and give this bite and focus. More tense and streamlined than Clerc Milon, but so poised and finessed. This has bite and tension, the Cabernet speaks with liquorice, tobacco and clove subtly giving the spice at the end, but also a fresh mintiness. You can taste the gravel and the clay, putting the terroir in the glass. Really quite profound with concentrated fruit, juiciness and mouthwatering acidity. Fresh and lifted on the finish, you want more of this, but it will take some time to be more charming given its serious nature right now. One to wait for and be glad you did. 3.83pH. 11.3% press wine - usually at 7-8% maximum. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. HVE3 certified. Tasted twice. 50% new barrels. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter

The 2022 Château d'Armailhac was picked from 8 to 27 September and matured in 50% new oak. This has a very pure and sensual bouquet with precocious black plum, cassis violet and espresso scents. The palate is mediumbodied with muscular tannins on the entry, though I find just a little more complexity compared to the Clerc Milon this year. There's a gentle and discrete crescendo toward its delineated and minerally finish. Excellent. This is more like the d'Armailhac that I was familiar with, say, ten years ago. It will surely be irresistible once it reaches its peak. You've been warned. -- Neal Martin, Vinous Media

The 2022 d'Armailhac is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 16% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it slowly emerges from the glass with evocative blueberry pie, black raspberries, and warm cassis scents, giving way to hints of pencil lead, lilacs, and underbrush. The full-bodied palate delivers taut, muscular black fruit with beautifully rounded tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long and spicy. This year represents a real step up. pH 3.83, TPI 75. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent

The difference from a typical vintage colour is more marked in Armailhac than Clerc Milon, where we are more used to deep colours. This in contrast is an extremely intense Armailhac, really stepping into its Pauillac boots, a ton of deep plum, cassis and damson. Great expansion through the palate, beautiful depth of flavour, this is extremely impressive, with an edge of eucalyptus and graphite on the finish, and more grip than usual. Yields down to 26hl/h (there are more new plantings here so young vines). Second vintage with the new winery, and new technical director Lucille Lauilhé. Harvest September 8 to 27, 50% new oak, 3.83ph. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

Deep aromas of raspberries, cherries, crushed mint and spices preface the 2022 d'Armailhac, a medium to full-bodied, layered and concentrated wine that's deep, lively and seamless, framed by powdery tannins and concluding with a penetrating finish. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate