Winemaker Notes
Blend: 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This is so floral and aromatic with intense flowers, potpourri and dark fruits as well as raspberries. Medium- to full-bodied, it has really tight, precise and fine-textured tannins that run the length of the wine. Crunchy and bright. Nice acidity.
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Decanter
Fragrant and concentrated, a lovely perfume on the nose. Easy, cool, almost light fruit on the palate, doesn't have the density of some, but it's sleek and taught - streamlined and keeps the focus. Tannins are fine and well integrated and this is a slick, quite suave - if not quite exciting- take on the vintage. Well made, nice concentration and tannic impact. Tasted twice. Derenoncourt consultants.
Barrel Sample: 93 -
Jeb Dunnuck
Plums, sappy flowers, violets, and spicy oak notes all define the 2022 Château Prieuré-Lichine, a ripe, concentrated, medium to full-bodied Margaux. It has solid mid-palate depth, plenty of background oak, and a great finish. While this ripe, textured, wonderfully layered Margaux offers pleasure today, it should have no issues evolving gracefully over the coming 15-20 years. The blend is 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot, aged 14 months in barrel. Rating:93+
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Vinous
The 2022 Prieuré-Lichine is plush, open-knit and quite seductive, as it so often is. Crushed flowers, spice, mint, orange peel and bright, red-toned fruit are all laced together. Silky and medium in body, with lovely finesse, Prieuré-Lichine is quite the charmer. I imagine it will drink well with minimal cellaring.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 Puygueraud, a classic, elegant wine with a medium to full-bodied, round and juicy palate with good depth at the core, fresh, velvety tannins and a long, ethereal finish enhanced by chalky dry extracts. Less tannic and more charming than in previous years, this is a blend of 88% Merlot and 12% Cabernet Franc.
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.