2022 Château Chasse-Spleen, Moulis-en-Médoc, Bordeaux

2022 Château Chasse-Spleen, Moulis-en-Médoc, Bordeaux

Product: 20228006752
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2022 Château Chasse-Spleen, Moulis-en-Médoc, Bordeaux

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Description

The 2022 Château Chasse-Spleen is layered with alluring ripe cassis, black plum and blackberry, set against a backdrop of pencil shavings, spicy liquorice and dusty violets. There are powdery tannins and there is ample concentration. Balanced and textured and with well-integrated alcohol (a reasonable 13.8%), this is tame and impressive for the vintage. This is up there with the outstanding 2019 and 2016 vintages at this estate. In February 2023, owners Céline Villars-Foubet and her husband Jean-Pierre Foubet acquired their neighbour Château Brillette, which they will absorb into Chasse-Spleen. Drink 2027-2042.

Score: 17/20

Berry Bros. & Rudd (April 2023)

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Critics reviews

Jane Anson93/100
Beautifully poised and well delivered black fruits here, and this is excellent quality, unusual spices of sweet cinnamon, vanilla bean, turmeric, gourmet edging, with depth and tannic grip. Great stuff, flashes of heat, but a ton of personality, and serious architecture that promises to age well. 40% new oak barrels for ageing. Now contains part of the vines from newly-purchased Château Brillette, with good quality Cabernet Sauvignon from gravel terroir, in place as of this 2022 blend vitage.

Jane Anson, janeanson.com (May 2023) Read more
Wine Advocate90-92/100
The 2022 Chasse-Spleen was showing especially well, bursting with aromas of cassis and plums mingled with licorice and pencil shavings. Medium to full-bodied, rich and fleshy, with levels of texture and mid-palate amplitude unusual at this address in recent years, this supple, charming Moulis should offer a broad drinking window.

William Kelley, Wine Advocate (April 2023) Read more
Jancis Robinson MW16.5+/20

Blackcurrant and blackcurrant-leaf nose. Supple attack. Lovely mid-palate fruit. Tannins plentiful and ripe. Sufficient freshness. Generous and structured. Should age.

James Lawther MW, jancisrobinson.com (April 2023)

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James Suckling93-94/100

Firm and linear with medium to full body and chalky, slightly tight tannins. Hints of walnuts and dark berries at the end.

James Suckling, jamessuckling.com (April 2023)

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About this WINE

Chateau Chasse-Spleen

Chateau Chasse-Spleen

Château Chasse-Spleen is the leading Moulis estate along with Château Poujeaux. Although it is classified only as a Cru Bourgeois, it regularly outperforms many of the Médoc's more renowned classed growths. There are two theories behind the château's rather unusual name: firstly, that, when Lord Byron visited the estate in 1821, he remarked `Quel remède pour chasser le spleen`. Secondly, that it is named after Baudelaire's poem, Spleen.

Chasse-Spleen's wines were always noteworthy, though the quality improved dramatically with its acquisition by the Taillan Group, which also owns Château Haut-Bages-Libéral, in 1976. It was run by Bernadette Villars until she and her husband were killed in an accident while hiking in the Pyrénées in 1992. The property is now run by her daughter Claire.

Chasse-Spleen's wine is a blend of 65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 5% Petit Verdot. It is matured in oak barriques (40% new) for 18 months and is bottled unfiltered.

Chasse-Spleen wines are typically deeply-coloured and full-bodied on the palate, displaying oodles of ripe, black fruit, minerals and sometimes hints of chocolate.

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Moulis

Moulis

This is the smallest of the six Médoc communes but boasts a wide variety of soils and terroirs. Moulis is one of the two communal appellations located on the Atlantic side of the Médoc. It is positioned directly south of Listrac and even though it adjoins Margaux - the Médoc appellation with the highest number of Cru Classé châteaux - there are none here.

In the context of the Médoc, Moulis is hilly country, studded with a diversity of gravels, limestone and clay. These are sturdy wines, but the best are capable of considerable longevity and are often seductively perfumed. Generally they have more power than Margaux wines, albeit with less finesse and elegance.

Recommended Châteaux: Ch. Chasse-Spleen, Ch. Poujeaux, Ch. Maucaillou.

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Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon Blend

Cabernet Sauvignon lends itself particularly well in blends with Merlot. This is actually the archetypal Bordeaux blend, though in different proportions in the sub-regions and sometimes topped up with Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot.

In the Médoc and Graves the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend can range from 95% (Mouton-Rothschild) to as low as 40%. It is particularly suited to the dry, warm, free- draining, gravel-rich soils and is responsible for the redolent cassis characteristics as well as the depth of colour, tannic structure and pronounced acidity of Médoc wines. However 100% Cabernet Sauvignon wines can be slightly hollow-tasting in the middle palate and Merlot with its generous, fleshy fruit flavours acts as a perfect foil by filling in this cavity.

In St-Emilion and Pomerol, the blends are Merlot dominated as Cabernet Sauvignon can struggle to ripen there - when it is included, it adds structure and body to the wine. Sassicaia is the most famous Bordeaux blend in Italy and has spawned many imitations, whereby the blend is now firmly established in the New World and particularly in California and  Australia.

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