Chateau Batailley 5eme Cru Classe, Pauillac 2022

Vibrant and intense colour in the glass, richly scented, floral and perfumed, open and inviting. Intense and concentrated, the fruit is dark and ripe but there’s no hint of over ripeness here and instead you get cool blue fruits, chalky tannins and minty freshness with accents of liquorice, coffee, tobacco, cedar spice and clove. Tannins are clearly at the fore, giving the structure and the frame while the juicy acidity gives the energy and life. Still on the serious side, not tense so much as there’s good persistence, it’s lean and streamlined, but refined in a spiced and mineral way. Gorgeous terroir markers, lovely detail and precision, you can feel they haven't worked too much or tried too hard. It carries the signature of the estate in the serious structure, it’s a big wine, there’s such power here but so well controlled and delivered. Razor sharp, focussed and persistent. A gorgeous 2022, well executed and will be a clear success.

You can't ignore the construction of the tannins here, but there is a plenty of juice in between and this is a gorgeous Batailley. On brand Pauillac, as it so often is, delivering slate, liquorice, energy, cassis, blackberry, orange peel, cardamom, black pepper, graphite, grip. Classic balance also, you don't feel you are in an extreme vintage here. Two thirds of the production is in the first wine of Batailley in this vintage. 55% new oak. A label in honour of Queen Elizabeth II also...

A very tight and typical Batailley with medium to full body, linear and racy tannins, which are pure and focused. Spicy finish. Compacted.

The 2022 Batailley is composed of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it comes galloping out with energetic notes of crushed blackcurrants, Morello cherries, and fresh, juicy blackberries, plus hints of tar, licorice, lavender, and garrigue. The medium-bodied palate delivers taut, muscular black fruits with loads of spicy sparks and a firm texture of ripe, grainy tannins, finishing long and mineral-laced. pH 3.7.

The 2022 Batailley has quite a powerful bouquet with slightly blowsy black fruit, just a bit of alcohol here and the oak quite pronounced. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-grain tannins and is actually much fresher and more complex than the aromatics, particularly on the finish. It just lacks a bit of sustain on the aftertaste but otherwise this is a superb Pauillac. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.

Cassis, darker currants, tobacco, and some earthy goodness all emerge from the 2022 Château Batailley, a medium to full-bodied Pauillac with wonderful purity, a good spine of acidity, and ripe, integrated tannins. Based on 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot, it's clearly an outstanding wine, if not more.