2022 Château Beaumont, Cru Bourgeois Haut-Médoc

Layers of sinewy tannins and eucalyptus spice. Opens to show baked earth, tobacco leaf and liquorice, cassis fruits laced with espresso, edges of campfire, a good quality wine that has concentration without strangling. Anthony Yaigre director. A value pick. 28hl/h yield. Harvest September 19 to October 5.

Tasted on two separate occasions, the 2022 Château Beaumont is a beautiful Haut-Médoc based on 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and the rest Petit Verdot mostly from sandy soils. Given the challenging conditions of the vintage, it would be easy to assume this would be a subpar release (the vintage was particularly challenging for sandy soils), but you'd be mistaken. This offers impressive purity in its red, blue, and black fruits as well as notes of chocolate and scorched earth. With medium body, present yet ripe tannins, and outstanding length, it's going to drink well immediately on release and evolve for 10-12 years or more.

The 2022 Beaumont exhibits somewhat wild aromas of rich cherries and berries mingled with smoked meats and saddle leather. Medium to full-bodied, chewy and chunky, it reflects the limitations of young vines on well-drained soils in a vintage like this.

Slightly chewy with fresh blackcurrant and berry character. Medium body. Fresh.

The 2022 Beaumont is a bold Haut-Médoc Cru Bourgeois Supérior. A burst of dark cherry, plum, gravel and incense gives the 2022 its hearty personality. The 2022 is an unusual blend that features more Cabernet Sauvignon than the norm. Yields are down to 28 hectoliters per hectare instead of the more typical or so through a combination of frost, hail and dehydration, which adds to the wine’s punchy, explosive feel.