Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux Margaux 2022 1.5Ltr

A plush and opulent Pavillon Rouge with plums, boysenberries and hints of cedar and chocolate. Full-bodied, this has lovely powdery tannins and a long and flavorful finish. Juicy and delicious, it's so attractive now that it’s hard not to drink. Second wine of Chateau Margaux. 64% cabernet sauvignon, 24% merlot, 7% petit verdot and 5% cabernet franc. Best after 2028.

Bottled in July, the inky-hued 2022 Château Margaux Pavillon Rouge offers a classic nose of ripe black raspberries, cassis, spring flowers, spice oak, and graphite. This leads to a medium to full-bodied Margaux with remarkable purity, a pure, layered, elegant mouthfeel, plenty of tannins, and a great finish.

Concentrated, juicy and lifted - this really combines ripe summer berry fruit with a menthol lift and fine, grippy tannins to give a wide mouthfeel with persistence. It's not at all plush, definitely more streamlined at this point with focus and drive. Feels well worked, finessed but still with lots of flavour and polish, ending slightly salty with a liquorice tang. Detailed and easy to like.

The 2022 Pavillon Rouge has turned out very nicely, offering up expressive aromas of raspberries and mulberries mingled with hints of licorice, anise and spices. Medium to full-bodied, rich and layered, it's concentrated and structured, with a rich core of fruit underpinned by plenty of sweet, powdery tannin. This is a serious Pavillon Rouge that will reward some patience.

The 2022 Pavillon Rouge de Château Margaux showed a little reduction at first, though there is clearly very concentrated fruit here: blackberry and blueberry, violet and light iris flower scents that emerge with time. The palate is medium-bodied with smooth, silky tannins. Commendable tension, very refined, very pure in terms of fruit with a sleek, very cohesive finish. Discreet in conveying its sense of class, this is a delightful 2022 Margaux and it matches many Grand Vins. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.

This is 32% of the crop here, and dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon at 64% of the blend. with 24% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 5% Petit Verdot. No change in the élevage here, Philippe Bascaules having initially considered a later bottling but found after the last fining the wine was ready for the bottle. He thinks this represents the ripeness of the tannins. The élevage was in 50% to 60% new oak. This has a super confident nose for Pavillon Rouge, rich in blackcurrant fruit, raspberry, concentrated, even a little blueberry showing here, with touches of soot and tar. Despite this the palate feels polished, silky, soft and charming, with a forward presence of dark and modestly plush fruit, with a light and ripe tannic backbone, which sits comfortably enshrouded by the fruit, another sign of the ripeness of the tannins, ending with a peppery length. It has real panache, with a sense of mineral freshness. Such fine maturity – a great Pavillon Rouge here – so fine and ripe you could drink this very soon. But you shouldn’t of course, because with cellar time this will be great. The alcohol on the label is 14.5%.