Château d'Armailhac 2022

Critic scores

• Jeb Dunnuck96
• Decanter95
• Vinous94
• Wine Enthusiast94
• Wine Advocate92

The 2022 vintage in Pauillac

Vintage benchmark: 98/100 (appellation benchmark, not a score for this wine)

Vintage character: Three heatwaves and extreme drought gave, against all odds, wines of exceptional concentration without harshness — the great sun-drenched year.

Overall reading of the year’s season across Pauillac. An estate can depart from it sharply, in frost or hail years, where two neighbours did not make the same vintage. What this particular wine actually gave is on its technical sheet and in the scores above.

Tasting

Château d'Armailhac 2022 is the epitome of contained power. Showing all the density of the vintage offset by great freshness and remarkable length, it offers a framework of black fruit flavours mingled with chocolate, pepper and spice notes as well as a floral touch attributable to the estate's exceptional Cabernet Franc grapes, which express all their elegance in this vintage. Fleshy and rich, its creamy texture is underpinned by well-rounded and perfectly constructed tannins, highlighting the rich and delicate array of flavours. The finish lingers long on beautifully fresh notes of blackcurrant and liquorice.

Blend of the 2022 vintage

Terroir

Château d'Armailhac lies in the northern part of the commune of Pauillac. It has 69 hectares of vines. Château d'Armailhac is made up of three groups of parcels: the Levantines and Obélisque plateau (26 hectares), an extension of the celebrated Carruades plateau of Mouton, made up of light and very deep gravel, the terroir of choice for the Cabernets; the Pibran plateau (19 hectares), whose gravel rests on a partly clay-limestone subsoil, hence the finesse and elegance characteristic of the wines of Château d'Armailhac; and the Béhéré gravel rise (5 hectares), of light gravel which can nonetheless run down to 3 metres deep.