Chateau Talbot Saint Julien Grand Cru Classe

Glossy and shiny, with lots of energy to the clean red berry fruit and slightly mineral-edged tannins. Easy to enjoy, this is smooth and round. More direct than overly plush or wide, but with great persistence to a long finish. The purity of the fruit and acidity give this strong appeal even at this early stage.

The 2022 Talbot was bottled in May. Estate Director Jean-Michel Laporte commented that he sees it as a combination of 2018, 2019 and 2020, though better than those vintages. The 2022 has a tightly knit bouquet, crisp and clean, a little "cooler" in style than I recall and I mean that in a positive way. It neatly shrugs off the warmth of that growing season. There's wonderful purity of fruit here, tinged with tobacco and light chimney soot scents. The palate is medium-bodied with crunchy black fruit—a quintessential Talbot, with a little more horsepower than recent vintages but fine precision and structure on the finish. I appreciate the finesse of the tannins and the weight throughout this Saint-Julien.

The 2022 Talbot has turned out nicely in bottle, bursting with aromas of cherries, berries, orange zest and petals, framed by a touch of toasty new oak. Medium to full-bodied, velvety and layered, with a rich core of fruit, ripe tannins and a long, cigar-inflected finish, it's a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot that matured in 60% new oak.