Juicy black cherries, blackberries, roasted herbs, graphite, and loamy earth notes all emerge from the 2022 Château Fonroque, a rich, medium to full-bodied, concentrated 2022 from this team. A blend of 86% Merlot and 14% Cabernet Franc, it has the plush, sexy style of the vintage and will keep for 15 years or more in cold cellars. It might be the finest wine I've tasted from this château.

The 2022 Fonroque has a well-defined bouquet with black cherry, violet and iris flower scents. It's precise with neatly integrated oak. The palate is well balanced with a succulent opening featuring red cherry, wild strawberry, marmalade and allspice. This is quite fleshy toward the finish but with adequate backbone. Maybe I underestimated this en primeur and my score reflects that.

The 2022 Fonroque is a dense, structured wine that will require some patience (largely due to the musculature imparted by old, virused vines growing on the limestone plateau), but it shows terrific potential. Offering up notes of mulberries, licorice and violets, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and layered, with a concentrated core of fruit underpinned by a muscular chassis of tannin. It's built for the cellar.