Château Laroque Château Laroque 2022 750ml

Looking at the Grand Vin 2022 Château Laroque, it checks in as 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc raised in 60% new oak with a mix in larger formats, as well as a portion in foudre. Gorgeous black raspberries, spring flowers, graphite, and truffly mineral and crushed stone-like nuances all shine in this stunningly complex, medium to full-bodied effort. With ripe, polished tannins, perfectly integrated acidity, and ultra-fine tannins, it's going to drink well for at least 30 years. The alcohol here is a healthy 14.7 with a pH of 3.4. This is an absolutely gorgeous wine! Buy a case for your cellar. You can thank me later.

Château Laroque is located on the cooler, eastern edge of Saint-Emilion and consists of pure, classic upper plateau limestone soils. it's a blend of 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc & will spend 16-18 months in 50% new French oak. This deep purple-hued beauty offers a classic Saint-Emilion bouquet of crème de cassis, graphite, tobacco, and a liquid rock-like sense of minerality. It’s medium to full-bodied, has incredible purity, and ultra-fine tannins. It’s unquestionably another beautiful vintage for this chateau that readers will love.

The 2022 Laroque has turned out very well indeed in bottle, offering up aromas of cassis, plums, pencil shavings and violets, followed by a medium to full-bodied, suave and vibrant palate that's pure, concentrated and penetrating. Harmonious and integrated, this limestone terroir's identity really shines through.

The 2023 Laroque is classy, elegant and polished. A wine of total understatement and class, Laroque sizzles with all of the tension that is such a signature of the limestone parcels. In some recent vintages, Laroque has been more charming at the outset. The 2023, on the other hand, is a wine that is going to require a few years in bottle to be at its finest. Tasted two times.

This shows very good integration with the fine wood. Warm bread, graphite, iron and black plums. Rich but still quite fresh, with medium to full body and tightly wound tannins. Long, focused finish. Approachable now, but better in another two years.

The 2021 Laroque is classy, elegant and polished. A wine of stature and breeding, Laroque is a quintessentially finessed Saint-Émilion. Silky tannins wrap around a core of dark cherry, plum, spice, new leather, licorice and menthol. All the elements are very nicely balanced.