Winemaker Notes
Château Kirwan is a wine that is produced from the best parcels of the vineyard that have mainly gravel soils, but some are also clay. The fruit is picked and sorted twice by hand, then vinified in separate batches corresponding to individual vineyard parcels. Half the oak barrels used to age the wine for eighteen months are renewed every year.
Blend:
55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit VerdotProfessional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2022 Château Kirwan is based on 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petit Verdot that spent 18 months in barrel. It has a classic nose of spicy oak, ripe red and black fruits, baking spices, and flowers. This carries to a medium to full-bodied Margaux with a concentrated, pure, layered mouthfeel, some nicely integrated, classy oak, polished tannins, and a great finish.
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Decanter
Sleek and crunchy, the bright almost high-toned red fruit take centre stage backed by crisp, fine and firm tannins with soft blueberry elements and crushed stones. Feels relatively delicate overall despite the concentration - keeps a linear frame, everything well worked, all in its place with detail and definition. This will be very delicious and true to form. Tasted twice. Harvest 5-22 September. Yield of 27hl/ha. 3.55pH. 6% Petit Verdot completes the blend.
Barrel Sample: 94 -
James Suckling
Blackcurrants and blueberries with violet and heather aromas follow through to a medium to full body with firm and racy tannins and a linear and persistent finish. Solid and precise.
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Wine Spectator
This is flush with blackberry and mulberry reduction flavors, inlaid with violet, iris and ink notes. The inky edge adds a sense of tension through the finish, with snippets of iron, rose hip and black tea mixed in through the long, focused finish. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the 2022 Kirwan exhibits aromas of dark berries, cassis, sweet spices, pencil shavings and creamy new oak, followed by a medium to full-bodied, rich and fleshy palate that's unusually lively for the vintage, checking in at a pH of 3.55, a number that it would be impressive to attain on gravel soils in this vintage without acidification.
Barrel Sample: 90-92
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Silky, seductive and polished are the words that characterize the best wines from Margaux, the most inland appellation of the Médoc on the Left Bank of Bordeaux.
Margaux’s gravel soils are the thinnest of the Médoc, making them most penetrable by vine roots—some reaching down over 23 feet for water. The best sites are said to be on gentle outcrops, or croupes, where more gravel facilitates good drainage.
The Left Bank of Bordeaux subscribes to an arguably outdated method of classification but it is nonetheless important in regards to history of the area. In 1855 the finest chateaux were deemed on the basis of reputation and trading price—at that time. In 1855, Chateau Margaux achieved first growth status, yet it has been Chateau Palmer (officially third growth from the 1855 classification) that has consistently outperformed others throughout the 20th century.
Chateau Margaux in top vintages is capable of producing red Cabernet Sauvignon based wines described as pure, intense, spell-binding, refined and profound with flavors and aromas of black currant, violets, roses, orange peel, black tea and incense.
Other top producers worthy of noting include Chateau Rauzan-Ségla, Lascombes, Brane-Cantenac, and d’Issan, among others.
The best wines of Margaux combine a deep ruby color with a polished structure, concentration and an unrivaled elegance.