Chateau Le Gay 2022

THE WINE CELLAR INSIDER: "With a solid depth of color, initially you find flowers, espresso, licorice, black cherries, chocolate fudge and plum aromatics crowd into the nose. The sensations on the mid-palate, and finish mirror the aromatics as they flow over your palate. The ending is packed with waves of perfectly, ripe, elegant, black, red, and blue fruits that linger. The wine will require at least a few years of aging before it begins to really start to show its best. But, if you have patience, this is going to age for 2 - 3 decades. The wine blends 90% Merlot with 10% Cabernet Franc. 14.5% AB, 3.7 pH. Drink from 2027-2055."

JAMES SUCKLING: "A juicy and polished Le Gay with full body and tannins which are nicely melted into the wine. Dark berry, chocolate and spice character. Savory finish."

FALSTAFF: "Tiefdunkles Rubingranat, violette Reflexe, zarte Randaufhellung. Feine Gewürze, Nelken, rote Herzkirschen, kandierte Veilchen, etwas Lakritze, verführerisches Bukett. Saftig, süße Textur, hat Charme, feste Tannine sind unterlegt, ein delikater Wein, feiner Schokotouch im Abgang, zeigt Länge und besitzt große Zukunft."

DECANTER: "Ripe but sleek, a lovely energy straight away in the bright strawberry and red cherry fruit. Tannins are fine and well integrated giving a soft expression with high acidity that keeps it accessible and approachable. Seems like they picked quite early keeping the fresh fruit bite and slight tang. Tannins settle and expand giving a crushed stone, powdery aspect and give the strength while the red berry fruit gives the dynamism. Really quite appealing, more of a St-Emilion style with the freshness, tang, and bite bit with Pomerol tannins. HVE certified. A yield of 23hl/ha. Tasted three times."

JEB DUNNUCK: "A step up over the 2020, the 2022 Château Le Gay brings more richness and depth and has a great nose of red and black fruits, flowery incense, baking spices, and scorched earth. Medium to full-bodied, nicely textured, and balanced, it shines for its purity of fruit as well its silky tannins. This should have some early accessibility yet still evolve for decades."

WEINWISSER: "Berauschendes rotbeeriges Bouquet, frischer Preiselbeersaft, Erdbeergelee, heller Graphit und Lakritze. Am eleganten durchtrainierten Gaumen mit cremiger Textur, balancierter Rasse und einem engmaschigem schokoladigen Tanningerüst. Im gebündelten Finale ein voller Korb mit Schattenmorellen, getrocknetem Rosmarin und feinkörnigem Extrakt. Ein unglaublich raffinierter Le Gay dieses Jahr. 2029 – 2049."

LISA PERROTTI-BROWN: „Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2022 Le Gay swans out with fragrant notions of kirsch, blackberry pie, and baked plums plus hints of forest floor, iron ore, and mossy tree bark. The full-bodied palate is jam packed with black fruit preserves flavors, supported by velvety tannins and well-judged freshness, finishing long with a spicy kick."

THE WINE ADVOCATE: "The 2022 Le Gay offers up aromas of rich cassis, menthol and toasty new oak, followed by a full-bodied, rich and rather muscular palate framed by sweet, liberally extracted tannins that assert themselves on the finish. While this remains quite a chunky, stylized wine, defined by its fermentation in new oak barriques, it is comparatively restrained for this estate in such an extreme vintage."

JANCIS ROBINSON: "Not the deepest crimson but very sweet and alluring on the nose. Extremely fresh on the palate – this wine really dances to a 21st-century tune! Really very distinctive and vibrant with fine tannins insisting towards the dry but not drying end. Persistent already. I’m impressed by this, even if it’s in quite a different idiom from the old regime’s Le Gay. Should age well."