Vignobles Hermouet Clos du Roy Fronsac 2022 750ml

I always love this cuvée, and their 2022 Clos Du Roy (90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc) has a subtle modern vibe as well as pure black raspberry and darker cherry fruits, medium to full body, beautiful tannins, and complex spice, new oak, and floral aromatics. It's going to benefit from just a few years of bottle age, but it should easily be an outstanding wine. I'd be happy to drink a bottle.

Blackberry, currant and chili with some walnut on the nose and palate. Medium to full body, round and juicy tannins with a creamy texture and a flavorful finish. Just a hint of smoke at the end. Drink after 2024.

The 2018 Clos du Roy is made up of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. Deep garnet-purple colored, it delivers profound baked plums, boysenberry and cassis notes with touches of chocolate box, underbrush and truffles. Medium to full-bodied and packed with generous black fruits, it has a velvety texture and lively line, finishing savory.

I always love this cuvée, and their 2022 Clos Du Roy (90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Franc) has a subtle modern vibe as well as pure black raspberry and darker cherry fruits, medium to full body, beautiful tannins, and complex spice, new oak, and floral aromatics. It's going to benefit from just a few years of bottle age, but it should easily be an outstanding wine. I'd be happy to drink a bottle.

Good tension and energy here, with vivid fruit and juicy acidity. Hints of citrus peel and walnut. Medium body. A little chewy at the end.

The 2022 Clos du Roy is high-toned and reductive on the nose - difficult to read at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with thick, juicy tannins, muscular in style but balanced. A bit rustic, perhaps, with a touch of heat on the finish. But it should knit together during its barrel aging and turn into a bullish Fronsac.

The 2018 Clos du Roy is a real pleasure to taste. Rich and flamboyant, the 2018 possesses tremendous depth as well as character. Succulent red fruit, blood orange, mint, spice, leather and new oak all mesh together. Readers will find a Fronsac of real substance and power. The 2018 is impressive. I won’t be at all surprised if it ages well.

A solid, rich, mouth-filling effort, the 2018 Clos Du Roy gives up plenty of darker currants and black cherry fruits as well as medium to full body, a round, mouth-filling, chewy texture, ripe tannins, and a good finish. Drink this pleasure-bent, flavorful 2018 over the coming 7–8 years. (Jeb Dunnuck)