The Moueix family release their 2022 portfolio

The wines of the Moueix family are amongst the most precious jewels in Vinum’s Bordeaux portfolio.  We take great pride in being agents for these wines in Singapore, and today we are thrilled to launch their superlative range of 2022 releases.

Our long-standing friends at Jean-Pierre Moueix often excel in riper Bordeaux vintages.  The house style for early-picking tempers the richness of the fruit, whilst the natural power of the season pushes wines to new levels of depth and intensity.  This is absolutely the case in 2022 – a year in which Christian, Edouard and their team have hit a series of home runs.

Up and down the Moueix range there are 2022s with an extra gear of richness over other vintages.  This is allied to a typically Moueix thread of freshness and minerality that sets the wines apart from those of many of their neighbours.

From the high class early drinking of Chateau La Grave to the 96-98pts (Neal Martin) glories of Belair Monange, the Moueix line up showcases the depth of range at which Bordeaux excels.  Latour a Pomerol is the dark horse of the portfolio, and a consistently shrewd en primeur purchase, whilst Hosanna and La Fleur Petrus are more widely celebrated classics. 

As a personal tip, the 2022 is the finest young Certan de May I have ever tasted.  With former Petrus winemaker Jean-Claude Berrouet now consulting here, I am convinced that the chateau is now reclaiming the prestige of its past.

As en primeur draws to a close for another year, the Moueix wines provide a rousing finale.  Do let us know your interest in these special 2022s from some of our oldest friends in Bordeaux.

The Offer:
Offered en primeur and available in late 2024 / early 2025. 
Quantities are limited and wines are subject to allocation.

Chateau La Grave 2022

@ SGD $330 per case (1×6) OWC (w/ GST $356.40)

Succulent, red-fruited and pure.  Aromas of berries and freshly-sliced plumbs are complemented on the palate by the blackberry notes, fresh tobacco and peppery spice of Cabernet Franc.  There is a juicy quality to the acidity that elevates the freshness and the tannins are supple and quite delicate.  This will make for superior drinking within its first decade.

90-92pts – Matthew Hemming MW

The 2022 La Grave offers an attractive mix of fruit intensity and vibrancy, a pretty appealing combination, especially in this vintage. Gravel, dried flowers, mint, charcoal, licorice and spice meld into a core of dark-fleshed fruit. La Grave is deceptively medium in body, but it packs plenty of punch.

91-93pts – Antonio Galloni

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2022 La Grave features open-knit scents of kirsch, mulberries, and juicy black plums, leading to touches of spice cake and cedar. The full-bodied palate is chock full of ripe black fruits, framed by lightly chewy tannins, finishing with impressive length. The blend this year is 89% Merlot and 11% Cabernet Franc.

91-93pts – Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

Chateau Latour a Pomerol 2022

@ SGD $600 per case (1×6) OWC (w/ GST $648)

I really admire the precision, focus and energy of this wine.  Presently quite tightly-coiled, it needs a bit more attention to coax out the sleek, dark, berry fruit characters and spicy mineral tones.  100% Merlot, yet with a taut back-bone of chalky tannins.  This is linear, age-worthy and finely-chiselled.  Very elegant on the finish – will be fascinating to follow this wine’s evolution as it unwinds.

92-94pts – Matthew Hemming MW

The 2022 Latour à Pomerol was picked 1-8 September, the earliest harvest amongst J-P Moueix’s wines this year. Certainly, this is endowed with one of their richest and more fruit-driven aromatic profiles with precocious black cherries and raspberry coulis scents, more blue fruit emerging with aeration. I would not necessarily describe it as complex, however. The palate is medium-bodied with quite firm, slightly chalky tannins. Plenty of freshness and structure locked into this nascent Pomerol with a linear and rather persistent finish. Good potential, though it needs several years in bottle.

91-93pts – Neal Martin

Deep garnet-purple in color 2022 Latour a Pomerol sashays out with graceful notes of raspberry coulis, chocolate covered cherries, and stewed plums, leading to wafts of forest floor, iron ore, and wild sage. The medium to full-bodied palate is elegantly played with graceful, ripe, rounded tannins and seamless freshness supporting the nuanced red and black fruits, finishing on a mineral note. This is made from 100% Merlot.

93-95pts – Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW / thewineindependent

Chateau Certan de May 2022

@ SGD $1,090 per case (1×6) OWC (inc GST $1,177.20)

Quite simply, the best young Certan de May I’ve ever tasted.  After years of edging forward and hinting at the potential, it feels as though Jean-Claude Berrouet’s influence has finally taken hold and the result is something pretty exciting.  The aromas are scented and delicate with lots of Cabernet Franc spice and berry notes.  On the palate it is mineral, fragrant and pure.  Finishes with floral tones and earth notes.  Lifted acidity and fine-grained tannins.

94-96pts – Matthew Hemming MW

The 2022 Certan de May is a seriously beautiful wine. Ripe, succulent and very juicy, Certan de May offers tons of immediacy. The style is perhaps a bit opulent, but that is the year. Blue/purplish fruit, licorice, lavender, spice and chocolate are front and center in this decidedly hedonistic Pomerol.

92-95pts – Antonio Galloni

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2022 Certan de May is a little shy to start off, soon unfurling to offer glimpses at red currant preserves, wild blueberries, and pencil shavings, followed by hints of dusty soil and lavender. The medium to full-bodied palate is bright, refreshing, and breezy, delivering a grainy texture and plenty of mineral sparks, finishing with good length. The blend is 60% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon.

92-94pts – Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

Chateau Hosanna 2022

@ SGD $1,275 per case (1×6) OWC (inc GST $1,377)

74% Merlot and 26% Cabernet Franc, this demonstrates the bold, dark-toned and powerful qualities of the vintage.  The immediate flavour profile is concentrated and dramatic but then the spice kicks in – from the Cabernet Franc – and provides lift, balance and nuance.  Dense and structured, the tannins are like a dusting of cocoa powder on the finish.

92-94pts – Matthew Hemming MW

The 2022 Hosanna is a heady, bombastic wine, as if often is, especially in warmer years. Black fruit, bittersweet chocolate, leather, spice, menthol and tobacco all race out of the glass. There’s a good bit of tannin, which makes me think patience will be critical here.

94-96pts – Antonio Galloni

The 2022 Hosanna was picked from 5-19 September. This is backward, almost surly on the nose. Blackberry, wild mint and light blood orange aromas reluctantly manifest on the nose; iodine touches emerge later. The palate is medium-bodied with firm tannins that frame the black fruit laced with tobacco and thyme. There is something almost stentorian about this Hosanna, and as such, it will demand a decade in bottle. A serious Pomerol that is a bit saturnine at the moment. I am prudent with my score because I would like a little more finesse.

93-95pts – Neal Martin

Chateau La Fleur Petrus 2022

@ SGD $2,040 per case (1×6) OWC (inc GST $2,203.20)

2022 has delivered a La Fleur Petrus that is more seductive and also more flamboyant than many other vintages.  Spice and blossom perfume is bolstered by rich and luxuriant fruit – fresh plums and dark cherries.  The mid-palate delivers a minerality and structural spine of tannin and acidity that keeps all the drama in check.  For a Pomerol of such mass and strength the finish is incredibly lifted and the palate is left refreshed and ready for more.

93-95pts – Matthew Hemming MW

The 2022 La Fleur-Petrus is composed of 96.5% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 0.5% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, the nose is completely locked-down to start, needing a lot of shaking to wake up profound notes of Morello cherries, fresh black plums, and boysenberry preserves, giving way to graceful waves of iron ore and iris scents with a touch of wood smoke. the full-bodied palate is an exercise in finesse, featuring beautifully ripe, silt-like tannins and fantastic freshness, finishing long and minerally. Impressive wine, yet it will require some patient cellaring.

96-98pts – Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW

The 2022 La Fleur-Pétrus is shaping up to be a jewel of a wine. Sweet floral and spice notes lift a core of ripe red-toned fruit. The 2022 offers a gorgeous combination of finesse and opulence, but still in the mid-weight style that is such a signature here.

94-96pts – Antonio Galloni

Chateau Belair Monange 2022

@ SGD $1,540 per case (1×6) OWC (inc GST $1,663.20)

A proper limestone wine with chalky tannin, minerality and tension.  This demonstrates all that is special about Saint Emilion in the 2022 vintage.  Almost 100% Merlot, Belair Monange always fools me into thinking it contains a whack of Cabernet Franc.  The fruit here is red, rather than black, and conveys a sense of delicacy whilst, at the same time, being tensile and as taut as a bowstring.  Shows great energy and focus on the finish.

95-97pts – Matthew Hemming MW

The 2022 Bél-Air Monange was picked from 8 to 20 September. It offers copious red fruit on the nose laced with graphite and sous-bois scents, gaining complexity in the glass. I love the detail and delineation of this wine. The palate is medium-bodied with finely-sculpted tannins that frame the layered mineral-rich fruit. Supremely focused with a surfeit of tension on the finish, there’s an abiding sense of harmony and completeness to this Saint-Émilion that feels draped in limestone. A wine befitting their eye-catching new château building.

96-98pts – Neal Martin

Composed of 98% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc, the 2022 Belair-Monange has a deep garnet-purple color. It needs considerable swirling to unlock scents of blackberry preserves, mulberries, and plum pudding, followed by suggestions of chocolate box, cinnamon toast, Indian spices, and candied violets with a hint of tilled soil. Full-bodied, rich, concentrated, and truly impactful, the palate is beautifully layered and so, so plush, finishing very long and opulent. Pure decadence.

97-99pts – Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW