Château Ormes de Pez 2022 en Primeur

Another brilliant Saint-Estèphe, the 2022 Château Ormes De Pez offers up lots of ripe blue and black fruits as well textbook earth, crushed stone, and graphite. Showing more nuance and floral notes with time in the glass, this medium to full-bodied effort has plenty of mid-palate depth, velvety yet building tannins, and nicely integrated background oak. This serious wine is worth seeking out. Tasted twice.

A juicy and fruity red with blackberry, black cherry and chocolate character. Full and round with freshness and intensity. Very spicy. Black olives, too. 51% merlot, 39% cabernet sauvignon, 8% cabernet franc and 2% petit verdot.

Dark plums and blackcurrants, ripe and fragranced on the nose, aromatic and open. High, juicy acidity is balanced by fine but chalky tannins and a flint undertone giving the minerality and tension. Powerful and massy, strong but well contained, focussed and all in one line. Good weight and balance, quite a serious and spiced edge but with lots of freshness throughout. A little strict and herbal, with the wood showing through, but lovely fruit purity. 2% Petit Verdot completes the blend. 3.88pH. Ageing 16 months, 45% new oak. Tasted twice. Harvest 19 September - 28 September.

Exhibiting aromas of rich cassis, pencil shavings and petals, the 2022 Ormes de Pez is medium to full-bodied, broad and fleshy, with a deep core of fruit and plenty of powdery structuring tannin. It's a blend of 51% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.