Château Batailley, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2019
Frederic Casteja described 2023 as an "unprecedented" vintage. Temperatures were 1.5 degrees above the norm and there were no blockages to maturity. Even so, he decided to wait a little for extra maturity, finishing the harvest on the 5th of October. A blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 2% Petit Verdot, this impressive 2023 is packed with spicy, dark fruit, toasty, earthy notes, incense and hedgerow fruit. Balance and composed, there's good energy here, long flavours and a generous texture. Finishes with suggestions of bitter chocolate, black cherry, graphite, licorice and spices.
critic reviews
The 2019 Batailley is a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it needs a little coaxing to bring out scents of redcurrant jelly, baked plums, and cassis, plus hints of cedar chest and dried herbs. The medium-bodied palate is fine-grained and lively, with bright, crunchy red and black fruits and an earthy finish.
The 2019 Batailley has a well-defined bouquet with tobacco and light cedar scents, blackberry and briary developing more intensity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins, quite elegant and refined, not the most intense Pauillac but beautifully proportioned with a sleek and quite persistent finish. Lovely. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting.
The 2019 Batailley is performing well from bottle, delivering aromas of rich cassis fruit mingled with notions of licorice and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, broad and fleshy, with a generous core of fruit, lively acids and plenty of ripe, powdery tannin, this is a chunky, flavorful Pauillac that will develop well in bottle.
Inky in colour, this is wine that you want to share with Pauillac lovers. So much cassis, bilberry, espresso, cocoa bean, fennel and aniseed. Big tannins but approachable, with slate, crayon and smoked earth adding contrast and texture to the frame. This is really one to look out for. Tasted twice.