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2022 Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

  • Red
  • Dry
  • Full Bodied
  • Cabernet Sauvignon (60%), Merlot (39%), Petit Verdot (1%)
Ready - youthful (Drink 2025 - 2039)
Yohan Castaing
94/100
Georgie Hindle
94/100
Jeb Dunnuck
94/100
James Suckling
94/100
Jane Anson
92/100
Neal Martin
92/100
James Lawther MW
16.5/20
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW
90-92/100
Product: 20228003171

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2022 Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion, Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux

Description

Crafted by the same team behind Château Les Carmes Haut-Brion, this wine comes from a separate estate in Martillac and offers a distinctive, expressive style. Cabernet Sauvignon-led, with a touch of Petit Verdot, it reflects the unique mosaic of clay and sandy-gravel soils.

The 2022 is vibrant and structured, showing layers of juicy damson fruit, fine tannins, and excellent balance. While it will age beautifully, it already offers a surprising degree of buvabilité - that joyful drinkability the French describe so well. Le C des Carmes Haut‑Brion offers a more affordable and approachable version of the grand vin, delivering much of the estate’s character with earlier drinkability.

Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2022
Alcohol % 13%
Maturity Ready - youthful (2025 - 2039)
Grape List Cabernet Sauvignon (60%), Merlot (39%), Petit Verdot (1%)
Body Full Bodied
Producer Château les Carmes Haut-Brion

Tasting note

My first encounter with the second wine of Les Carmes Haut-Brion was with the 2013 vintage, a notoriously challenging year in Bordeaux. And yet, the wine showed lovely definition and depth, a true testament to the quality of the terroir and the skill of the team behind it. Fast forward to 2022, and this wine is on another level!

The 2022 is, without a doubt, the best second wine in Bordeaux both in value and quality. Perfect for Friday-night Netflix or dinner with friends, yet structured enough to age beautifully. Le C is fresh, elegant, and irresistibly drinkable. The estate held it back from En Primeur, so you don’t have to; you can enjoy it right now — no waiting required if you don’t want to. Grab one case to drink now and one to forget about for a couple of years, if you can keep it that long!

Max Lalondrelle, Managing Director, Fine Wine Buying, Berry Bros. & Rudd (October 2025)

Critics reviews

Yohan Castaing 94/100
The 2022 Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion is punching above its weight this year. Unfurling in the glass with a gourmand, lively and vibrant bouquet of raspberry, mulberries, rose, violet and cassis, it's medium to full-bodied, seamless and layered with refined, velvety tannins and a deep core of fruit, concluding with a harmonious, elegant profile that avoids any excess, enhancing its distinctive personality. Guillaume Pouthier, Guillaume Deschepper and their team have done a fantastic job at this address, delivering an exceptional wine.
Drink 2026 - 2037
Yohan Castaing, Wine Advocate (Mar 2025)
Georgie Hindle 94/100
Seductive and deeply perfumed, this wine bursts with blackcurrants, cherries, and subtle spice. The crystalline acidity is immediately fresh and bright, while soft, delicate tannins create a silky texture without heaviness. It has energy and forward motion, balancing purity and precision. The Carmes signature shines through - pure fruit, supple tannins, and a long, elegant body. Flavours of cherry, damson plum, and redcurrant lead to a mineral, oyster-shell finish with a subtle salty tang. Both fresh and age-worthy, this is a beautifully framed, dynamic wine that leaves you wanting more. One of the best second wines. I love this. 31% whole bunch fermented.
Drink 2025 - 2040
Georgie Hindle, Decanter.com (Jan 2025)
Jeb Dunnuck 94/100
The 2022 C Des Carmes Haut-Brion is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, and the rest 1% Petit Verdot that was fermented with 30% whole clusters and aged 12 months in a new foudre (there's a small part in used barrels) followed by four months all in concrete tanks. There are fewer stems in this cuvée as the vines are younger, and it has a higher percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon. Its deep ruby/purple hue is followed by a spicy, peppery, complex perfume of darker berry and plum fruits, spring flowers, tobacco leaf, and a beautiful sense of minerality. Medium to full-bodied, nicely concentrated, elegant, and loaded with character, it's a singular Pessac-Léognan that will have two decades of longevity.
Drink 2025 - 2045
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (Feb 2025)
James Suckling 94/100
The aromas just pop out of the glass, offering plenty of flowers, pears, berries, rose stems and fresh currants. Wild fruits, too. It's full-bodied with so much juicy fruit and a creamy texture. Already open and delicious, with wonderful intensity. 30% whole-cluster fermentation. Second wine of Les Carmes Haut-Brion. Best after 2027, but fantastic now.
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (Jan 2025)
Jane Anson 92/100
A lovely wine, great depth of flavour, wisps of smoke and grilled coffee bean, avoids the heaviness of the vintage, and provides a distinct personality. 30% whole cluster, Guillaume Pouthier director, Guillaume Deschepper technical director, closed with wax. First year ageing in 55% new oak of differing sizes, then amphoras and cement vats for second year. From the 2023 vintage they plan to add an extra year in cement vats to ensure that the C de Carmes is fully ready to drink on release.
Drink 2026 - 2034
Jane Anson, JaneAnson.com (Jan 2025)
Neal Martin 92/100

The 2022 Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion, mainly Cabernet Sauvignon (60%) from gravelly soils, will be kept for one year in bottle before release. It has 13.3% alcohol, reduced by the 30% whole cluster contribution with infusion rather than maceration, using a coffee plunger concept to push down the cap in the vat. It aged for one year in barrel and one year on foudres. The nose presents blackberry, clove and curry leaf aromas, with a touch more mint than before. The medium-bodied palate has slightly chalky tannins and is fresh thanks to the whole bunch contribution. Quite linear and a little Syrah-like towards the finish, this lovely wine will age well over the next 12 to 20 years.
Drink 2028 - 2048
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (Jan 2025)
James Lawther MW 16.5/20

60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot. 30% whole bunch. Cask sample.

Lively and lifted with spice, cedar and dark-fruit notes. Almost burgundian feel and flavour but the structure of bordeaux. Red-fruit notes. Juicy and digeste if a little sweet. Approachable but should age.
Drink 2026 - 2040
James Lawther MW, JancisRobinson.com (Apr 2023)
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW 90-92/100
The 2022 Le C des Carmes Haut-Brion is composed of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 39% Merlot, and 1% Petit Verdot, picked at 14.1% potential alcohol and with 30% whole-bunch fermentation. It is currently aging 20% in new barrels, 70% in 30hl casks, and 10% in amphoras. Deep garnet-purple in color, it explodes from the glass with bombastic scents of kirsch, juicy blackberries, raspberries, and blackcurrant jelly, followed by hints of roses, star anise, crushed rocks, and underbrush. The medium-bodied palate is very light on its feet, with lovely tension and chewy tannins supporting the bright, vivacious black and red berry layers, finishing long and lifted. pH 3.60.
Drink 2027 - 2045
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, TheWineIndependent.com (May 2023)

About this wine

Pessac-Léognan

Pessac-Léognan

In 1986 a new communal district was created within Graves, based on the districts of Pessac and Léognan. Pessac-Léognan has the best soils of the region, very similar to those of the Médoc, although the depth of gravel is more variable, and contains all the classed growths of the region. Some of its great names, including Ch. Haut-Brion, even sit serenely and resolutely in Bordeaux's southern urban sprawl.
Find out more

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