Spicy black cherries, blue fruits, savory herbs, dried flowers, and new saddle leather notes all emerge from the 2022 Château Bellefont-Belcier, a pure, polished, incredibly elegant 2022 that has a round, layered mouthfeel, ripe yet building tannins, and outstanding length. I love its overall complexity, and it's a more nuanced, complex wine in the vintage that's going to evolve and drink well for two decades. The 2022 is 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Franc. Tasted multiple times with consistent results.

The 2022 Bellefont-Belcier is more expressive on the nose than it showed at primeur, where there was some variation between bottles. This offers copious red fruit, kirsch and desiccated orange peel aromas, though it needs a little more precision and delineation. The palate is medium-bodied and quite fresh, with grainy tannins and a touch of white pepper. It tapers in slightly toward the finish. Drink this over the next 12 to 15 years.

The 2022 Bellefont Belcier, a blend of 72% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon, confirms all our expectations placed on it during the en primeur tasting. Wafting from the glass with a fresh, delicate and complex bouquet of dark wild berries, flowers, iris, cassis and spices, it's medium to full-bodied, suave and seamless with a deep core of fruit and a vibrant, energetic mid-palate framed by delicate, refined tannins and culminating in a long, saline finish with chalky dry extracts. It will offer a broad drinking window.