2022 Château Batailley is now available. A benchmark Pauillac from the heart of the appellation, the new vintage builds on great recent form and will be adorned - for en primeur sales only - with a special label to honour Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Batailley's improvement in recent years culminates in this brilliant 2022 which has been roundly praised by the critics. Jane Anson calls it "on brand Pauillac" and "a gorgeous Batailley", scoring it 96 points. Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW and James Suckling are similarly praiseworthy, giving the wine 94-96+ and 95-96 respectively. William Kelley calls it "an especially strong effort for this estate". Neal Martin of Vinous scores it 94-96 and writes "Unequivocally, one of the finest iterations of Batailley that the Castèja family has overseen."
This black and gold special label for the 2022 commemorates Queen Elizabeth II, who drank Batailley 1947 on her silver wedding anniversary with Prince Phillip. For Château owner Philippe Casteja, the 2022 is similar in both climate and quality to the legendary 1947 vintage.
At £372 per 12 bottles it represents great value for money in this vintage, the quality in the glass rivalling some of the left bank's most prestigious (and expensive) names. Batailley is a classic classed growth Pauillac that remains very fairly priced despite the profound improvements in quality. It is heartily recommended as one to buy this year. Although it is still early in the en primeur campaign, we can already confidently predict that this fine and classic Pauillac will be the best value classed growth of the 2022 vintage.
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Appellation | Wine | Size | Comparison Price 2009 GBP |
Estimate GBP | Sell GBP |
Score | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Pauillac | Batailley Recommended Available | BT | 650 | 330-410 | 372 | 41.333333333333 | 96.00 | 94.00 | Batailley | 0.75 | 410 | 330 | 10 | 2023-05-17 00:00:00 | 41.333333333333 | ||
| All prices exclude UK duty & VAT and all wines are offered subject to remaining unsold. E&OE. | ||||||||||||||||||
The 2022 Batailley was picked from 8 to 27 September (at the same time as Lynch-Moussas) and is raised in 55% new oak. It comes with a newly-designed label. It has a well-defined bouquet with blackberry and cassis, violet and tobacco. The palate is clean and precise on the entry. With lovely focus and detail, this is a sophisticated Batailley with a surfeit of mineralité and excellent clarity and typicity on the finish. Unequivocally, one of the finest iterations of Batailley that the Castèja family has overseen. This Batailley is like driving a classic old car, and I mean that in the best possible sense.
A deep, impressive nose of cassis, sandalwood, cured meat and freshly roasted coffee. The palate is impressive, with chewy tannins and intense black fruit giving way to a wave of freshness that typifies the most successful wines this year. There is a ripe focus, dark cherry and blackcurrant are complemented but not dominated by toasty oak, with that chew of tannin adding savoury balance. Fleshy on the finish, it nonetheless retains its energy and vibrancy. Long, and very well made again this year.
A very tight and typical Batailley with medium to full body, linear and racy tannins, which are pure and focused. Spicy finish. Compacted.
The 2022 Batailley is composed of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple in color, it comes galloping out with energetic notes of crushed blackcurrants, Morello cherries, and fresh, juicy blackberries, plus hints of tar, licorice, lavender, and garrigue. The medium-bodied palate delivers taut, muscular black fruits with loads of spicy sparks and a firm texture of ripe, grainy tannins, finishing long and mineral-laced. pH 3.7.
You can't ignore the construction of the tannins here, but there is a plenty of juice in between and this is a gorgeous Batailley. On brand Pauillac, as it so often is, delivering slate, liquorice, energy, cassis, blackberry, orange peel, cardamom, black pepper, graphite, grip. Classic balance also, you don't feel you are in an extreme vintage here. Two thirds of the production is in the first wine of Batailley in this vintage. 55% new oak. A label in honour of Queen Elizabeth II also...
An especially strong effort for this estate, the 2022 Batailley exhibits aromas of dark berries, cassis, licorice and sweet soil tones, followed by a medium to full-bodied, rich and layered palate. It's a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot and the balance Petit Verdot.
