Tobacco, pencil lead, rubber, violets, dark chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon and mint. Silky, smooth and glossy, with depth but no heaviness. Piercingly fresh with a tang of liquorice and flint. Not fully open, narrowing towards the finish but exuding class. Acidity is excellent. While there are lots of impressive 2022s, this makes you sit up, take note and then drink the whole glass. A wine that makes you smile.

Mathieu Cuvelier marks 20 years of the Cuvelier family at Clos Fourtet with this vintage, and it's a wonderful attestation to the potential of limestone plateau location for coping with a changing climate in Bordeaux. Visually arresting in its deep plum and violet colour, with a luscious texture, and plenty of subtle red roses and peony floral aromatics. Creamy black and blue fruits, and sublimely well measured tannic extraction, with crunchy salinity on the finish, oyster shell and salt-flecked chocolate notes. Super smooth finish. First year with the addition of Les Grandes Murailles vineyard. Stéphane Derenoncourt and Jean-Claude Berrouet consultants (working together since 2009). Not too interventionist, no cold soaks here, natural yeasts, with whole bunch ferments for the young vines. Harvest September 9 to 27. 3.54ph. 40% new oak, 58% second-fill barrels, 2% amphoras.

This is broad and opulent with a full body and fine-grained, velvety tannins. Deep dark fruit, crushed violets and spices. Structured, layered and really long. Wow. So long and refined with great clarity.

The 2022 Clos Fourtet is fabulous. Rich, sensual and layered, the 2022 bristles with the energy found in the best wines of the year. Clean veins of minerality frame a core of red/purplish fruit, lavender, sage, mint, rose petal and mocha. Simply put, the 2022 is a magical Clos Fourtet. This is the first vintage that incorporates fruit from what used to be Grands Murailles.

Harvested around the 9th of September and based on 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 3% Cabernet Franc (it also includes grapes from the discontinued Grandes Murailles bottling), the 2022 Château Clos Fourtet reveals a vivid purple hue as well as aromatics of black cherries, blackberries, white flowers, and crushed stone. A quintessential Saint-Emilion from the upper plateau, it has an incredible sense of minerality as well as full-bodied richness, ripe tannins, a vibrant sense of freshness, and a great finish. The 2020 was brought up in 40% new barrels, with the balance in once-used oak and a tiny portion in clay amphora. Tasted twice.

The 2022 Clos Fourtet was picked from 9 to 27 September at 36hL/ha and vinified to a maximum of 24-26° Celsius. It has a gorgeous bouquet you could lose yourself in, with crushed strawberry, orange blossom and bunches of violet. The 40% new oak is extremely well integrated. The palate is refined with filigree tannins, one of the most mineral-driven Clos Fourtets I recall at this stage, with a sophisticated and harmonious finish. The prudent approach to the new oak pays rich dividends here. Mathieu Cuvelier and his team have overseen a sublime Saint-Émilion.

The 2022 Clos Fourtet has turned out exceptionally well, offering an enticing bouquet of rose, plums, dark berries, licorice and spices. Medium to full-bodied, enrobing and seamless, it's deep and complete with a fleshy core of fruit, velvety tannins and a long, mineral and saline finish enhanced by notes of vibrant dark berries. As readers may remember, this blend of 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Cabernet Franc was matured for 18 months in 50% new barrels, used barrels and amphorae.

Now incorporating the vineyards of the former Grand Murailles, the 2022 Clos Fourtet is lovely, wafting from the glass with aromas of dark berries, plums, rose petals, orange zest and exotic spices. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and seamless, it's deep and complete, with a layered core of vibrant fruit and a long, saline finish. This is another terrific wine from this 19-hectare vineyard situated on the limestone plateau of Saint-Émilion, just outside the village. It's a blend of 90% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon.

90% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc. Includes the 2 ha from Ch Les Grands Murailles integrated in the 2022 classification. Cask sample. Deep crimson hue. Expressive red-fruit and mineral nose. Generous fruit backed by plentiful but refined tannins. Remarkably smooth texture but firms up and lingers on the finish. Terroir evident. One for the cellar. (JL)

91% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Very dark purplish crimson. There's already some evolution here on the nose. Fragrant. Sweet start but still with some freshness. Meaty and savoury. But juicy, too, and not forced nor too heavy nor sweet. Finish is bone dry in fact! Very unlike the late-20th-century stereotype! (JR)