critic reviews
The 2022 Monbousquet offers black fruit, graphite and light tertiary scents on the nose, well defined, but it feels as if it might be closing down. There is some sur-maturité that becomes evident. The palate is smooth on the entry, a little sleeker than its peers, with black pepper and bay leaf tincturing the black fruit. Maybe it misses a little grip on the finish, but I appreciate the length. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.
A nose of dark, smoky and toasted fruit, rather dried and desiccated fruits, with a confit concentration, suggesting dehydrated berries with a burnt toast and rose petal nose. The palate follows on in the same vein, with a toasted and dehydrated concentration, with liquorice and slightly caramelised edges to the fruit, ending with a flourish of dark chocolate and drying tannins. This seems to wear the heat of the vintage on its sleeve, and the extraction feels supremely confident. It’s not a style I would usually follow. Tasted twice. The alcohol on the label is 14.5%.
Intense and tannic, crushed rocks, flint, gunsmoke, concentrated berry fruits with chocolate slabs, powerful, intense. Good quality, but be aware this is pumped and opulent.