En Primeur 2022 Releases: Château Meyney, Château Suduiraut, Château Climens

There are a handful of estates in recent years that have become known for challenging the quality of classed growths, without the price tag.

Meyney is undoubtedly one of these and is released today at £282 per 12.

This is truly “the insider’s St Estephe” as Jane Anson puts it. Meyney is ideally positioned next door to Montrose with a wonderful terroir. The proximity to the Gironde river and its cooling influence was undoubtedly one of the keys to the estate’s success in this warm, dry vintage.

“Pure and taut, it is a strong effort that will require a bit of patience” William Kelley

In recent vintages, under the direction of Anne Le Naour, the estate has been making leaps and bounds. One of the particularities of Meyney is the high proportion of Petit Verdot in the blend – the estate is planted 15% to this variety with some excellent old clonal material.

This year it bags an incredible 95 points from Jane Anson, who comments “this is a great example of Meyney”.

Truly an estate that is punching well above its price point, a must-buy!

Today marks the release of the terrific wines of Chateau Suduiraut.

This beautiful estate in Sauternes, lying at the foot of the Yquem hill is owned by Axa Millesimes (also owners of Chateau Pichon Baron), and run by the inimitable Christian Seely. Yields are very low for the Grand Vin Liquoreux this year at just 7hl/ha, as around 40% of the crop was lost to frosts in April, but the resulting wine is one of the most concentrated and intense Sauternes of the vintage.

“One of the finest Sauternes I've been lucky enough to taste in some time” Jeb Dunnuck

It wasn’t until the beginning of October that botrytis began to set in on the very ripe Semillon grapes of Suduiraut which resulted in some of the most concentrated botrytis wines ever seen at the property. As for the dry white wines, these are becoming increasingly important for the estate, with the long-term vision to specialise more and more in this category. The Vieilles Vignes Blanc Sec uses old vines from the estate (45-60 years old), which were better able to resist the warm, dry weather of the vintage to produce a dry white of remarkable freshness.

Other Releases Today:

Lilian Ladouys 2022 – GBP 174/12
93pts Jane Anson: “Intense colour, marzipan and fennel, caraway seeds, cracked pepper, very classic St Estèphe in that it has just a ton of cassis and bilberry fruit, with chewy tannins that have you wading through the mid palate. This is clearly extremely well made, almost 2010 in feel, with balance and confidence. Due for certifcation organic in 2024, now in conversion. Highest amount of Petit Verdot at this estate, lost around 30% of the crop through hail and frost in northern St Estèphe. 35% new oak barrels, alongside larger sized oak casks for ageing.”

Climens 2022 – GBP 652/6 (the latest release of this wine EP was 2017)
93pts Jane Anson: “Rich gold in colour, with intense crème caramel, apple tart, citron confit and apricot puree flavours, this has a silky texture and luscious appeal, low acidity, unusual for Climens, although a beautiful mint freshness gives a welcome cooling blash on the finish. 114g/l residual sugar, 4.1ph. 7.5hl/h yield. Harvest from October 6 to 23, spanning 9 days in total. New owner Jean-Hubert Moitry as of this vintage, with managing director Jerome Moitry. The winemaking team remains the same, overseen at least for now by Bérénice Lurton, and this En Primeur sample has been tasted the first time as a finished blend, not tasted direct from individual barrels as in the past.”