Château Beaumont, Haut Médoc, 2022
This Suntory owned chateau is one of the largest productions of the Medoc. Produced from 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot, the 2022 shows a good core of juicy purple fruit. It's uncomplicated, well balanced with plenty of fragrant fruit and well-judged, ripe tannins. It'll be a good early drinker.
critic reviews
The 2022 Beaumont is very backward on the nose, with tobacco-infused black fruit, unashamedly classic in style. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannins. Good mid-weight depth, a healthy pinch of black pepper and gentle grip on the finish, this has length and style. Looking for a bargain in '22? Step this way. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.
A property under the same management as Beychevelle, this is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. I find a rather sweet nose here, with delicately dried blackberry fruits, with a touch of sweetly caramelised sugar perhaps from the oak (and clearly already fading on a second sample tasted weeks later), as well as a rather toasty, perfumed, sandalwood lift. The palate seems nicely coherent, fresh with a lifted and charming grip, which is wrapped around the dark fruit, with all its white peach and white flower nuances. While the nose initially lacks a little focus the palate holds up well, and there is ripe and tightly defined structure here, with dark and juicy fruit, all of which should see this forward for five or ten years, but I suspect no longer. Good harmony, and a long grip of modest tannin. A Beaumont for the (short-term) cellar. Tasted twice. The alcohol on the label is 14%.
Good depth through the palate, plenty of espresso, cocoa bean, brambled blackberry and blueberry fruit, touch of austerity to the tannins at this point, in a way that suggests confidence in ageing. Grand Millésimes de France, director Anthony Yaigre, well located estate in Cussac-Fort-Médoc, 28hl/h yield from sandy-gravel soils.
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.