This impressed during En Primeur and totally delivers on a promise of freshness, charm and drinkability. Juicy and succulent with the clean and crystalline fruit at the fore. Tannins meld seamlessly into the wine with only a hint of bitter chocolate and liquorice spice on the finish giving nuance. Layered and shiny - down plays the vintage in terms of concentration - this is sleek and glossy. Polished and well crafted. A tiny bit shy still - this will age very well - but also feels as if you could start to enjoy this soon. Wonderful.

Darker currants, leafy herbs, graphite, tobacco, and subtle orange zest-like nuances all emerge from the 2022 Château Branaire-Ducru, a ripe, concentrated, flawlessly balanced Saint-Julien. With medium to full-bodied richness, a concentrated, layered mouthfeel, and plenty of tannins, it's another no-brainer of a 2022 that readers will love to have in their cellar. The 2022 is 60.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31.5% Merlot, 5.5% Cabernet Franc, and the balance Petit Verdot, aged 18 months in oak.

Elegance, vibrancy, and purity are at the heart of this stunning gem. Competing for the title of the best vintage of Branaire Ducru ever produced, it's easy to understand why once you pop the cork. Displaying a deep color, the wine offers a floral bouquet before unveiling its medley of dark red fruits, spice, mocha, nutmeg, vanilla, and black cherries. The palate is even more impressive with its show-stopping, refined, creamy profile and purity of fruit. There is concentration, length, and lift on the finish that allows the wine to persist. This represents an entirely new level of quality. The wine consists of 60.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31.5% Merlot, 5.5% Cabernet Franc, and 2.5% Petit Verdot. Enjoy from 2027 to 2060. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2022&wine=Chateau%20Branaire-Ducru

Blackcurrants and pencil shavings with such intense but subtle character on the nose. Some crushed stones as well. Full-bodied and dense with layers of polished tannins that are integrated and focused, creamy and caressing. Very long and persistent. 60.5% cabernet sauvignon, 31.5% merlot, 5.5% cabernet franc and 2.5% petit verdot. Best after 2028.

As ever an understated classified wine, not pushing too far even among the exuberance of 2022, instead delivering fragrant, peony-laced cassis fruits laced with slate and graphite. An exceptional example of this property. Owner François-Xavier Maroteaux.

The 2022 Branaire-Ducru has turned out just as brilliantly as I had hoped. Offering up a deep bouquet of crème de cassis and blackberries mingled with pencil shavings, burning embers and cigar box, it's medium to full-bodied, velvety and unctuous, with a rich core of fruit, lively acids and sweet structuring tannins. Iterated and complete, it concludes with a long, broad finish. This blend of 60.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31.5% Merlot, 5.5% Cabernet Franc and 2.5% Petit Verdot is worth a special effort to seek out. - William Kelley

This is 60.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, 31.5% Merlot, 5.5% Cabernet Franc and 2.5% Petit Verdot, an assemblage which has resulted in a svelte and coherent nose, combining dark and perfumed fruits with a leathery overlay of tobacco and black pepper. The palate shows a charming and integrated texture, sweetly knit together and polished, with dark fruits, all damson, olive and plum, set against a rich chalky backdrop of dry and finely grained tannins. A serious and structured wine but with a seductive texture, which will need decades to come around. Impressive. Tasted twice. The alcohol on the label is 14.5%. - Chris Kissack

The 2022 Branaire Ducru, bottled mid-June, was one of the most impressive I tasted from barrel. It retains a wonderful bouquet with more red fruit compared to its peers, hints of iodine and a touch of desiccated orange peel. The wine shows fine, almost clinical delineation. It is medium-bodied with an extremely well balanced palate, slightly powdery tannins and a sense of tension and brightness that, like some of the best Saint-Juliens in 2022, puts it above the 2019 or 2020. Quite linear and mineral-driven towards the sapid finish, this is a classic Branaire-Ducru that will age with style in bottle. -- Neal Martin

A mix of mulled boysenberry and blackberry fruit, dried violet, iris and lively licorice snap notes gives this a textbook and very aromatic St.-Julien profile. A sleek iron detail courses underneath, allowing the fruit to sail unhindered through the finish, flanked judiciously by singed apple wood. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Best from 2027 through 2042. — J.M.