Grand Village Rouge 2022 (750ML)

93-95 JD / 93-94 JS / 92-94 WA / 92 DE / 91-93 VM / 90-92 WI / 91 JA / 16.5 JR

The 2022 Grand Village (Lafleur)comes from more clay and limestone soils and is 80% Merlot (half of the Merlot is a massale selection from Lafleur) and 10% Bouschet. This beauty is medium to full-bodied and has incredible purity in its ripe red and blue fruits as well as notes of graphite, chocolate, violets, and damp earth. It reminds me of a great Pomerol and brings plenty of richness and depth while staying balanced and finesse-driven.-Jeb Dunnuck

Beautiful blue fruit and chocolate here. Medium- to full-bodied. The tannins are firm and velvety with lots of spice, seashell and iodine notes. Lots of white pepper and sea salt. Fresh. 80% merlot and 20% cabernet franc. -James Suckling

Baptiste Guinaudeau and his team have produced a beautifully pure, perfumed 2022 Grand Village that bursts with aromas of licorice, graphite, blackberries, pencil shaving, iris and fresh mint. Medium to full-bodied, seamless and fleshy, this outstanding wine is perfectly balanced on the palate with velvety tannins and a bright, saline finish. This is one of the very best Grand Villages produced to date, and it benefits from the sort of careful winemaking normally reserved for cru classé wines. It’s a blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, although for the latter grape the Guinaudeau family prefers the local name of Bouchet.- Yohan Castaing, Wine Advocate

Soft floral aromas on the nose, delicate and gentle with milk chocolate, salty stones and freshness. Sleek and well framed, smooth but direct, the flavours drive from start to finish in one direction and movement. Juicy and plump, but controlled, not shouting. Acidity is well balanced - soft but cool with cola and creamy aspects and tannins that feel well supportive, not lean, sharp or plush. Round and complete, carefully controlled and feels confident. Has a strength but well positioned and finessed with lovely salinity.- Georgina Hindle, Decanter

The 2022 Grand Village is a powerful, brooding wine. Swaths of tannin wrap around a core of black
fruit, gravel, incense, licorice and chocolate in a potent Grand Village that overdelivers. The 2022 is a
wine of notable substance and breadth. I wouldn’t dream of opening a bottle for at least a few years.
The 2022 is the most intense young Grand Village I have ever tasted. There is serious potential here.-Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

A blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Bouchet (Cabernet Franc), the 2022 Grand Village has a deep garnet-purple color. It flies out of the glass with vibrant scents of black and red cherries, black raspberries, unsmoked cigars, and fallen leaves, plus touches of lavender and black pepper.- Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent

Always a name to look out for, this manages to achieve a nuanced, juicy feel amid the extreme conditions of the year, and you'll find an enjoyable delivery of plump raspberry and red cherry fruits, held in by austere tannins. Density builds through the palate, and this is a value pick. 30% new oak, 40% one year old, 30% two year old barrels. After a number of years of replantings, all Cabernet Franc here is massal selection from Lafleur, and half of the Merlot also massal from old Merlots from Lafleur. Harvest September 3 to 23.-Jane Anson

Deep crimson hue. Juicy but structured, the tannins crunchy, the quality impressive at this level. Ripe but fresh with red-fruit and spice notes. Don’t think of it as a generic Bordeaux.-James Lawther MW, Jancis Robinson