Le Dome 2022 (750ML)

97-98 JS / 96-98 WI / 95-97+ JD / 94-96 VM / 95 DE / 94 JA

A wonderful young wine with such integrity and polish with ultra-fine tannins. Currants, chocolate, hazelnuts and crushed stones. Yet ever so refined. The length is gorgeous, too. Thoughtful and ethereal. 80% cabernet franc and 20% merlot. - James Suckling

Made from 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot, the 2022 Le Dome is deep garnet-purple in color. The nose is very closed to start off, needing a lot of patience and swirling to coax out notes of kirsch, juicy blackberries, blueberry compote, and underbrush, leading to wafts of menthol, rose oil, iron ore, and cinnamon toast. The big, concentrated, full-bodied palate is super-concentrated and built like a skyscraper, delivering a solid backbone of very firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness to support the generous fruit, finishing very long and minerally. pH 3.72. - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, Wine Independent

Now coming from three parcels, the 2022 Le Dôme is 80% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot that saw malo in barrel and will spend 18 months in 80% new oak. It's another ripe, sexy, seamless, gorgeous wine from Maltus offering loads of ripe red and black fruits, notes of chocolate, spicy herbs, graphite, and tobacco, full-bodied richness, no hard edges, and a great finish. - Jeb Dunnuck

The 2022 Le Dôme is terrific. Succulent black cherry, sage, espresso, licorice and dried herbs infuse the 2022 with tons of character. As always, Le Dôme is quite reticent en primeur. There’s terrific energy though, and tons of potential for those who can wait. Bright saline notes from the Franc wrap around the imposing finish. - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

Blueberries, cola, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, espresso, soft sweet tobacco, liquorice, damson and bramble fruit. Intense and rich, layered and multi faceted with silky and velvety textured tannins. The fruit is strong and concentrated with the acidity giving bounce and lift before making way for extremely grippy, salty, firm tannins and a powdery chalky finish. Full of life and energy but deeply seductive, fans of Le Dome will delight with the signature power and intensity on show. Fully tannic but also juicy, cool and fresh. Confident and chiselled. 3.72pH. TA: 2.89. 80% new oak barrels. - Georgina Hindle, Decanter

The high expression of Cabernet Franc in the vintage is a real bonus, benefitting from the full ripeness of the grape while retaining freshness. Truly stands out among the range of wines, easily worth its reputation. Has a juicy finish with chalkiness and tension, still muscular with concentrated and intense black fruits, as are all the Maltus wines, built to last, with swaggering monumental scale and imagination - I can't help but wonder just how good this could be if they scaled things back a touch. This is a 2022 vintage as I would have imagined it before I began tasting the En Primeurs, with its exuberance and ripeness, and it is striking that I have not found it everywhere. Fruit from the former site of Les Asteries included in here (as well as in the separate smaller private bottling of Les Asteries). Located up on the plateau, harvest September 14 to 28. 100% new oak. New winery. - Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux