Really pure fruit here with blackberries and boysenberries. Some spice like white pepper. Medium-bodied with tight and fine tannins, and a fresh and bright finish. Terrific potential. 95% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 2% cabernet sauvignon.

Winemaker Marie Lefévère made a bevy of brilliant wines in 2022, and her 2022 Château Sansonnet is up there with the finest vintages to date. A blend of 92% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 3% Cabernet Sauvignon, it has a pure, well-oaked, yet balanced and textured style carrying beautiful red and black fruits as well as some floral, spicy background nuances. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, the tannins are ripe and nicely integrated, the balance is spot-on, and it has a great finish. I was able to taste this on multiple occasions and it always impressed.

Intense concentrated slate and crushed rocks against slabs of bitter chocolate and cassis, black cherry and creamy raspberry puree. This is intense, musuclar and structured, in the spirit of the vintage, beautifully balanced by curls of woodsmoke, crushed rose petals and slate. Lovely. Famile Lefevère. 70% new oak.

The 2022 Sansonnet is a full-throttle, opulent Saint-Émilion. Blackberry jam, mocha, gravel, incense, licorice and bittersweet chocolate are all dialed up. Sansonnet is always a potent wine. In 2022, everything is dialed up to the maximum. This is not a shy wine. That much is obvious. Tasted three times.

The 2022 Sansonnet has a plush, well-defined bouquet with some conspicuous new oak, but there is sufficient fruit behind that. The palate is medium-bodied with a fresh entry, and nicely balanced. Pure and focused with a touch of sour cherry lending tension on the structured finish. Worth seeking out.

85% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon. Owned by the Lefévère family. Cask sample. Very deep colour. Heady nose with very careful tannin management despite the two Cabernets in the mix. Acidity a bit marked. But it’s lively. Lots of life and pizzazz here. And lots of tannin at the moment! (JR)

Certified HVE. 92% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon. Cask sample. Black with purple rim. Dark-fruited, ripe and charry in aroma. On the palate, also very ripe – not overripe but lacks freshness and energy. A little raisiny on the finish. The tannins firm and gently chewy. (JH)