Château de Carlmagnus 2022 en Primeur

Firm and structured with medium body. Notes of bay leaf, nut shell and chalk. The tannins are tight and lightly chewy.

A ripe, textured, straight-up sexy Fronsac with tons to love, the 2022 Château Carlmagnus (90/10 Merlot and Cabernet Franc) has lots of both red and black fruits as well as notes of melted chocolate, baking spices, and hints of tobacco. It's forward, velvety textured, has ripe tannins, and a great finish. My money is on it being outstanding.

Herbal, open and expressive on the nose, not so ripely fruited as some but all the other nuances - liquorice, dried herbs, rosemary, toasted spice - are present. Sleek and focussed, a sweet attack of ripe fruit with high acidity that then focusses and narrows into quite a salty, saline finish. Great juiciness combined with muscles and concentrated. Feels quite heavy with lots of toasted spice on the finish. Tasted twice. Harvest 12 - 23 September. Ageing 18 months; 30-40% new barrels. Derenoncourt consultants.