Château Haut Batailley, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2022
Jean-Charles' motto this year comes from the Monty Python - "always look on the bright side of life"....for despite 2022 being a year of torment, marked by extreme climatic phenomena… our vines were resilient, giving us an exceptional vintage and a life lesson". Under the ownership of the Cazes family of Lynch Bages, Haut Batailley is in safe hands, however, the 2022 was a bit one dimensional and somewhat outclassed by the exceptional Ormes de Pez. Notes of violets and currants; there is some good tense fruit on the mid-palate, surrounded by quite a formidable tannic structure laced with cassis and graphite. Given recent form, we'd expect this to knit together during élevage, but this didn't give a great showing in late April 2023.
critic reviews
The 2022 Haut-Batailley has an intense bouquet with blackberry, boysenberry and light aniseed scents. Like others here, it is a little bullish at first, though it gains clarity in the glass. The palate is very smooth on the entry, with plenty of black fruit laced with graphite, and just a slight herbaceous element towards the finish that should be integrated with time. This is going to be a beauty. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.
The 2022 Haut-Batailley from the Cazes family is all about dark berries and toasted richness on the nose, with a sweet and smoky substance. There is a sense of charm to the palate though, the fruit dark and savoury, the texture fresh and bright, while the structure which supports it all feels rich, dark and brooding. The bottom of the palate is filled out with dark, savoury and toasted tannins, which ease into a long finish. An impressive Haut-Batailley, from a property which appears to be thriving under its new management.
Deep plum and blackberry fruit, touch of gunsmoke reduction on first opening, softening to show depth and flesh to the fruit. 65% new oak. 41hl/h yield.
A blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, the 2022 Haut-Batailley offers up aromas of sweet berries and plums mingled with licorice and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, firm and structured, it's a serious, rather muscular and extracted wine that begins to nod toward its stablemate Lynch Bages in style.