La Dominique 2022 (750ML)

96 DE / 95-96 JS / 93-95 JD / 94 JA / 91-93 WI / 90-92 WA

Clean and fresh on the nose with cool blue fruit notes. Succulent and supple, lovely energy and life, with high acidity that has a sweetness and juiciness that is so enjoyable backed up with liquorice and dark chocolate edges and a salty undercurrent. Feels well worked, still quite tight and tense, there's power here but it's being funnelled directly from start to finish with real purity and precision. Well worked, finessed and presented carefully. Sappy and vibrant, a joy to taste and a great success. Has a serious side no doubt, this will age well but will also be so great to drink young and fresh. Tasted three times. 3.7pH. 60% grand vin production. Yield of 38hl/ha. Ageing 14 months, 50% new French oak barrels, 40% one wine barrels, 10% in composite eggs, amphora and wine globe. Gwen Lucas director, Yann Monties technical director and Julien Viaud consultant. Tasted three times. - GH, Decanter

Lovely fruit here with black berry, redcurrants and tile aromas and flavors. Medium- to full-bodied, very well integrated tannins and a lightly chewy finish, showing the potential of the vintage. - James Suckling

Tasted on multiple occasions, the 2022 Château La Dominique is another brilliant wine from this château, which is located on the northern edge of Saint-Emilion, bordering Pomerol. A blend of 88% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon, it sports a vivid ruby/purple hue as well as a great nose of red and black fruits, spring flowers, loamy earth, and baking spices. Ripe, medium to full-bodied, silky, and wonderfully balanced, this seamless, elegant 2022 will round into form with just 4-5 years of bottle age and keep for 20-25 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

Deep plum in colour, vibrant edging. Plenty of personality and depth to the fruit, this has a beautiful balance of power and lightness. They really have done a great job in recent years at La Dominique of bringing out the subtle complexities of the terroir, and this highlights brushed damson and cassis, cherry pit, nectarine pit, wtih restrained crushed crock and slate character that give relief and constrast to the sweet intensity of the fruit. An impressive La Dominique that retains juice and spice if not entirely escaping the hige intensity of the vintage. Gwendeline Lucas CEO, Yann Monties (ex Haut Bailly) winemaker, 60% first wine, 50% new oak, 38hl/h yield. Tasted twice. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2022 La Dominique needs a swirl or two to unlock notes of juicy blueberries, blackberry pie, and kirsch, giving way to underlying wafts of pencil shavings and tar. The full-bodied palate is plush and juicy, with bags of expressive black and blue fruits, finishing with a red berry lift. The blend this year is 88% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Cabernet Sauvignon. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent

A rich, heady wine, the 2022 La Dominique offers up aromas of sweet cherries, baked berries and plum liqueur mingled with notions of licorice and melted asphalt. Medium to full-bodied, broad and fleshy, with a rich core of sweet, somewhat jammy fruit but reasonably lively underlying acids, it's framed by plenty of powdery tannin. I had entertained higher hopes for La Dominique this year, but perhaps the pace of ripening was just too rapid for the estate's technical team. - William Kelley, Wine Advocate