Ulysse Cazabonne<\/a>.<\/p>\nThese large, negociant-lead tastings allow us to start to build a good picture of the vintage, with 100 or so bottles across all appellations. This done, we retire to ruminate, and recover from the 4am start.<\/p>\n
Day 2<\/strong><\/p>\nTo the hard work. We arise and head straight for Pomerol. The familiar terrain laced with vines, all already showing their colours, feeds us into Ch\u00e2teau N\u00e9nin. A curious place to start, made even more so by the inclusion of a left bank great \u2013 Ch\u00e2teau L\u00e9oville-Las Cases is undergoing renovation, so not only are we tasting N\u00e9nin, but Potensac, Clos du Marquis and L\u00e9oville-Las Cases. A rare jack-knife to the Rive Gauche.<\/p>\n
N\u00e9nin was on good form, Potensac a cut above the usual (the heat really helped in that chilly terroir), Clos du Marquis exceptionally easy to love. Las Cases itself, was laser-precise. Electricity personified, it danced a merry loop in our mouths, seemingly for ages. We had our first key indicator \u2013 2022 has generosity, but also immense structure<\/strong>. If you play by the rule that a great wine should be great from start to finish, then we\u2019re on this pitch.![\"Tasting](\"https:\/\/blog-2207a.kxcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/BDx-le-pin-223x300.png\")
<\/p>\nSeeking to keep our frame of reference both humble and realistic (\u2026), we headed for Ch\u00e2teau Le Pin. I won\u2019t say any more than Le Pin is Le Pin. Owner Jacques Thienpont captured their approach: \u2018We aim for perfection, but it is not achievable in this world.\u2019 We\u2019ll see Jacques.<\/p>\n
L\u2019If is worth pausing for. It\u2019s obviously no secret that it\u2019s superb, but in 2022, a theme which is concurrent with most of the Saint-\u00c9milion we tasted, it had that extra layer of electricity<\/strong>. They had also, for the first time ever, used some Cabernet Franc vines in the blend which have just come to term. The resulting aromatic nudge was rather nice.<\/p>\nVieux Ch\u00e2teau Certan, which has the finest wisteria in Bordeaux (we may have started to contract \u2018wisteria hysteria\u2019 across the trip) was next. If you\u2019re ever lucky enough to taste there, you\u2019ll find that the spittoon is not conspicuous \u2013 it is there, but hidden behind a large column in the winery. This can lead to a state of panic in new tasters, which is resolved as they swallow their mouthful and drink the rest of the glass. It\u2019s always that good. 2022 was no exception.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/blog-2207a.kxcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/BDx-blog-2-221x300.png\")
Following this, we climbed the hill. Troplong Mondot is situated on the highest point in Saint-\u00c9milion, so the view is stunning. As much as Mondot was fruity and approachable, Troplong Mondot blew it to pieces \u2013 yes, it\u2019s 15% alcohol, but that generosity and intensity is tempered so well by its acidity. A truly impressive effort from a Ch\u00e2teau firmly on the rise.<\/p>\n
A swift tasting at the inimitable l\u2019Evangile followed, before we picked our way to Clinet. The familiar red shutters greeted us with a surprise \u2013 a new wine. L\u00e9cuyer is a 3 hectare plot, bordering their own vines, which Clinet have just acquired. It was very good, but Clinet itself stole the show. Whilst we\u2019re used to Clinet\u2019s verticality, an incredible character it is able to produce in any vintage, the 2022 also had just the right amount of breadth. Similar to that friend, who after being single for a few years, finds themselves in a really healthy relationship \u2013 they stop starving themselves, are much more joyful and put on a few comfort pounds. It was great.<\/p>\n
![\"Visiting](\"https:\/\/blog-2207a.kxcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/BDX-blog-4-267x300.png\")
<\/p>\n
Cheval Blanc is always a treat, and this year was no exception. The one piece of news we can report here is that they didn\u2019t make a Petit Cheval. They decided that the quality of their wine, across every single plot they own (bar one), was so homogenously high that it was worthy of the Grand Vin. The only downside was that their yield was cut from an average of 35hl\/ph to 28, so how much we\u2019re able to get hold of remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
Pavie-Macquin is a nightmare drive. The Ch\u00e2teau is up hairpin bends, carved into the limestone cliffs of Saint-\u00c9milion. This year, we sadly didn\u2019t realise that the tasting was at Larcis-Ducasse \u2013 so we had to race back down the impossible road, to try all the marvellous wines from this side of the Thienpont family. Pavie-Macquin itself was completely gorgeous. It had real appeal, crunchy fruit, and a generosity which made you keep going back for more.<\/p>\n
Laroque was next, one of our favourite newcomers. They faded into obscurity for a long time, before rocketing back onto the scene in 2018. At time of writing, after 48 years of absence, I can say with total honesty that their wine is still desperately affordable (2022 price pending) and has beautiful red fruit. It was our \u2018value pick\u2019 of the day.<\/p>\n
![\"Serious](\"https:\/\/blog-2207a.kxcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/BDX-blog-5-202x300.png\")
<\/p>\n
Figeac, now Grand Cru Class\u00e9 ‘A’, did an incredible job or working with the challenging 2021 vintage. In 2022, they have been handed their first exceptional bit of weather since they finished construction of their enormous, new, state-of-the-art winery. This effort was seminal. Not only was every element in balance – fruit, alcohol, intensity, acids, tannins \u2013 and exceptionally well-worked, but the wine already felt like a complete journey. From start to mid, to finish, it was so complete and complex, that you could have excused yourself with a bottle.<\/p>\n
![\"Into](\"https:\/\/blog-2207a.kxcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/tertre-197x300.png\")
La Conseillante, for all its grandeur, is just 10 hectares of vines, worked by 8 people. They don\u2019t have a glamorous reception space, they don\u2019t make a lot of wine, and they eschew the entire idea of second labels. What they do make, however, is exceptional and within the hierarchy of Pomerol, although already highly-regarded, in this writer\u2019s humble opinion, it does not garner the recognition it deserves.<\/p>\n
Finally, our last few kilometres of Monday\u2019s wine marathon. Tertre Roteboeuf is a complete tonic to the showier side of Bordeaux \u2013 pure substance over style. The estate itself is just six hectares, and only four are currently being utilised. Tertre is a family home, and we were graciously toured around by Henri, Francois\u2019 son who not only showed us Domaine des Cambes, Roc Des Cambes and Tertre Roteboeuf, but also opened a \u201991 Roc, then showed us their family library cellar. If you\u2019re lucky enough to be able to buy these, do.<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
![\"Register](\"https:\/\/blog-2207a.kxcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/CAT-button-register-300x101.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And we\u2019re off, scouting Ch\u00e2teaux for the best of Bordeaux 2022. Our head of Private Clients, Jack Chapman is sending us his notes and impressions, giving us a verbal tour of some of the finest wines of Bordeaux\u2019s right bank, and the team\u2019s take on the mystifying 2022 vintage. The first visits include: Ch\u00e2teau N\u00e9nin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":35244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1489,1],"tags":[1490,789,317,1391,1454],"class_list":["post-35226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2022-bordeaux-en-primeur","category-ls-post","tag-2022-bordeaux-en-primeur","tag-bordeaux","tag-en-primeur","tag-fine-wine","tag-france"],"contentshake_article_id":"","yoast_head":"\n
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Our head of Private Clients, Jack Chapman is sending us his notes and impressions, giving Day one of our Bordeaux 2022 En Primeur adventures\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.leaandsandeman.co.uk\/blog\/2023\/04\/day-one-bordeaux-2022-tour\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lea & Sandeman Wine Merchants | Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LeaandSandeman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-25T09:02:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-27T14:34:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog-2207a.kxcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Jack-at-chateau-clinet.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jack Chapman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@leaandsandeman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@leaandsandeman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jack Chapman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Day 1 & 2 \u2013 Bordeaux 2022 Tour","description":"And we\u2019re off, scouting Ch\u00e2teaux for the best of Bordeaux 2022. 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<\/p>\n