The finest example of the château I've tasted, the 2022 Château Clerc Milon is deep purple-hued with a sensational perfume of crème de cassis, spring flowers, spicy oak, and graphite. It's full-bodied, concentrated, has a weightless mouthfeel, and beautiful tannins, all making for a riveting Pauillac. It needs a decade of bottle age to hit prime time, but this is another truly special 2022 that readers should pounce on.

So much Pauillac character with lead pencil, currants and red fruit. Orange peel and slightly burnt oranges. Medium-bodied, this has creamy and crunchy tannins as well as dried citrus and a flavorful finish. Lovely drive to this exquisite, energetic wine. Drink after 2028.

Liquorice spice, dark fruit, dried herbs, and faint florals on the nose. Wide, succulent, and alive in the mouth. Tannins are velvety, giving structure while strawberry and cherry fruit shine. Still a little compact, narrowing slightly on the finish with bitter chocolate, coffee, and liquorice. Excellent acidity and a limestone-driven mineral core - flint, wet stone, graphite - keeping it fresh and refined. Rich yet pure, with a strong Pauillac signature. Bottled in June. 3.81pH. Ageing 50% new oak.

Depth and dark intensity of the colour from the first moment, slate texture to the tannins and dark cocoa-dusted damsons and cassis, vivid fruit quality, with black olives, spiced cumin and turmeric, mint leaf and eucalyptus. This is wet stone, salinity, dynamic quality, a great wine in this extreme vintage. Plenty of ageing capacity ahead. Caroline Artaud technical director, 50% new oak.

Medium bodied, elegant, fresh, vibrant, refined, and fragrant, the wine shows off its immutable charms with a single swirl, and sniff. On the palate, the wine is lively, silky, and elegant. Refined in nature, the wine focuses on its softness, and purity which is made even better with a light touch of chocolate-mint in the finish that pairs perfectly with all of its sweet, vibrant, red berries. While you can enjoy this in its youth, remember, patience is a virtue. So give it some time in the bottle to fill out, and gain complexity. The wine blends 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Carmenere. Drink from 2027-2050. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/search-wine-tasting-notes/?szSearch=2022%20Clerc%20Milon

Aromas of sweet crème de cassis, licorice, violets and creamy new oak introduce the 2022 Clerc Milon, a full-bodied, rich and layered wine that's deep and vibrant, with ripe, integrated tannins and lively acids, concluding with a long finish. As I wrote en primeur, its clay-limestone terroir lends it a distinctive signature that sets it apart from the rest of the portfolio. - William Kelley

This is 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc and 1% Carmenère, with an élevage in 50% new oak, the remainder in second-fill barrels. This is classic Clerc-Milon on the nose, fragrant and charming, combining dark and somewhat crystalline fruits with a fresh aromatic lift of crushed chalk and minty verbena. The palate is bright, polished, textural and grippy, with a very fresh and integrated substance, plenty of dark and fresh fruit character sitting over a confident but harmonious and tightly knit bed of tannins. This dark character persists into the finish, supported by that wrapping of ripe and highly polished tannins, but it also carries a bright, perfumed, floral edge, with bitter dark chocolate and plenty of textural substance, but always showing that bright limestone vigour. And it is long too – a top Clerc-Milon in this vintage. Tasted twice. The alcohol is 14.39%, with 14.5% on the label.

The 2022 Clerc Milon was shaded by the d'Armailhac when compared out of barrel. That is still the case in bottle. This is more backward and a little taciturn by comparison, though still attractive with blackberry, wild hedgerow and touches of iodine. The palate is medium-bodied with quite a succulent, fleshy opening. It is a more approachable Clerc Milon than other vintages, though d'Armailhac just has a tad more complexity and joie-de-vivre. -- Neal Martin