Château Clerc Milon Rothschild, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac, 2022

What a wonderful Clerc Milon. Charles Fournier explained that this is the second vintage made in the new winery. There are double the number of vats, which allows the team to work on a parcel-by-parcel basis. Full of exuberance, with hedgerow fruits, bilberry and layers of spice, graphite, cracked earth and mocha. Long, sleek and well defined, there's a lovely generous core of bright, fragrant fruit; clear, precise and fluid, culminating in well-defined tannins and integrated oak. We really fell for the style here. There's something juicy and enjoyable, however, upon closer inspection, there's lots of gravitas and quite a serious structure. A beautifully constructed Clerc.