Château Talbot, 4ème Cru Classé, St Julien, 2022
Good ol' Talbot. We tasted at the UGC, which certainly doesn't enhance a wine’s chances, and despite its inauspicious surroundings, Talbot triumphed. Jean Michel Laporte, formally of La Conseillante has created one of the best Talbots we can remember – a wine that harks back to the glory days of the Cordiers in the 1980s. The final blend is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. It opens with classic Cabernet aromas of violet, gravelly cassis and garrigue. The palate is solid but also quite juicy and fun. Grippy, something you can get your teeth into, this is a really well-judged effort matching density of fruit with vibrant acidity and plenty of length. Bravo.
critic reviews
The 2022 Talbot is far superior on the nose to the previous three Saint-Juliens. Finally, much more delineation and mineralité, blackberry and light pencil box scents coming through with time. The palate is medium-bodied with rounded tannins, supple in the mouth, more savoury than expected, with a touch of bitterness right on the finish. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.
Chewy but restrained tannins, plenty of depth and character, rose bud and peony alongside raspberry and cassis fruits, this is delicious, a great job from this estate, one to look out for, and to have plenty of confidence in its ageing ability.
The 2022 Talbot is especially impressive, and if it fulfills all its promise, it is likely to emerge as this large Saint-Julien property's most exciting wine since the 1980s. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of cherries, blackberries and cassis mingled with hints of violets and pencil lead, it's medium to full-bodied, velvety and concentrated, with a layered core of fruit, rich structuring tannins and a long, lively finish. It's a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot that's being matured in 60% new oak.