La Mondotte Premier Grand Cru Classe B, Saint-Emilion Grand Cru 2022

Another absolute stunner from the Right Bank in the vintage, the 2022 La Mondotte just about jumps out of the glass with its intense yet also complex and elegant profile carrying pure cassis and black raspberry fruit, some crushed stone and violet nuances, medium to full body, ultra-fine tannins, and just awesome length on the finish. It has the inherent richness and power of the vintage yet is seamless, graceful, and just incredibly compelling. Its purity is off the charts. You can safely enjoy bottles today, yet I would still do my best to hide them in the cellar for 7-8 years if you can. It will certainly have 2-3 decades over overall longevity.

Blackberries and blueberries with chalkboard and dark earth aromas. Flowers, too. Lead pencil. Full-bodied and very deep in the palate, which is reserved and texturally sophisticated. Chalky, too. Silky and very polished. 80% merlot and 20% cabernet franc. From organically grown grapes.

The 2022 La Mondotte is another heady wine in this range from the Neipperg family. Inky dark fruit, gravel, pencil shavings, iron, sage and scorched earth infuse the 2022 with notable intensity and tons of brooding, somber character. Readers will have to be patient, as this is a potent, structured Saint-Émilion. I would not plan on opening a bottle anytime soon. The 2022 is 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, so a bit more Franc than in some recent years. This spent 35 days on the skins followed by 16 months in French oak, 40% new. It's a superb edition of this wine made from one of the most distinctive sites in the appellation.

The 2022 La Mondotte is made up of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc with a pH of 3.48. Yields were 45 hl/ha, and it is aging in 40% new oak. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a bit of swirling to bring out notes of plum preserves, blackberry preserves, and fruit cake, leading to suggestions of Indian spices, unsmoked cigars, and iron ore. The medium to full-bodied palate is tightly wound with black and blue fruit layers, framed by fine-grained tannins and great tension, finishing long and with great purity.

The 2022 La Mondotte presents a poised and focused bouquet with blackberry and bilberry fruit, touches of licorice and pencil box notes from the Cabernet Franc. It shows fine delineation. The palate is fresh and taut on entry with a slightly powdery texture, good vigor and a generous sprinkling of white pepper toward the finish that lingers in the mouth. This precise La Mondotte boasts impressive persistence, leaving the tongue tingling 30 seconds after the wine departs.

Fresh flowers of lilies, peonies and roses on the opening aromatics, heading towards cherry pit and rapberry puree fruits, this works within the vintage but gives quite a different expression of it, with nuance and charm. Ludovic de Niepperg winemaker, who previously worked at Harlan in Napa before returning to the family estates. 40% new oak, 45hl/h yield, harvest Septmber 3 to 23. Certified organic since 2014, no till farming since 2022. An estate sat between Troplong Mondot and Tertre Roteboeuf, on silt-sand and clay soils above limestone mother rock, with vines aged between 30 and 60 years old.

The 2022 La Mondotte is deep and concentrated, unwinding in the glass with brooding aromas of wild berries, licorice, violets and black truffle. Full-bodied, ample and layered, it's deep and youthfully introverted, its concentrated core of fruit girdled by lively acids and sweet, beautifully powdery tannins.