92

Antonio Galloni

Vinous

The 2022 Kirwan is a bold, juicy Margaux that will drink well on release. Inky dark fruit, chocolate, new leather and spice add an exuberant flair, while silky, plush tannins are beautifully measured. It’s hard to find much fault with a wine that offers this much pure pleasure. 01/2025

93

Neal Martin

Vinous

The 2022 Kirwan was transferred into barrel early in October, blended at the end of January, aged for 20 months in 50% new oak and bottled in June 2024. It has a delineated, focused bouquet, with commendable purity of fruit, blackberry and bilberry notes, a light estuarine touch (sea spray) and cedar. The oak is very well integrated. The palate is medium-bodied with granular tannins, a keen thread of acidity and a little more structured than I remember from barrel, rendering it more similar to the 2020 than the 2019. It's lively and peppery on the aftertaste, with more precision than recent vintages. This vindicates my positive review from two years ago. It is one of the finest Kirwans in recent years. 01/2025

90-92

William Kelley

Robert Parker/Wine Advocate

A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot and the balance Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the 2022 Kirwan exhibits aromas of dark berries, cassis, sweet spices, pencil shavings and creamy new oak, followed by a medium to full-bodied, rich and fleshy palate that's unusually lively for the vintage, checking in at a pH of 3.55, a number that it would be impressive to attain on gravel soils in this vintage without acidification. 04/2023

96

Jeb Dunnuck

Jeb Dunnuck

The 2022 Château Kirwan is based on 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petit Verdot that spent 18 months in barrel. It has a classic nose of spicy oak, ripe red and black fruits, baking spices, and flowers. This carries to a medium to full-bodied Margaux with a concentrated, pure, layered mouthfeel, some nicely integrated, classy oak, polished tannins, and a great finish. It's a wonderfully complex, concentrated, balanced 2022 that's just about impossible to resist today, yet will have a lengthy drink window. It will ideally be given 4-6 years of bottle age and enjoyed over the following two decades. 02/2025

94

Jean-Marc Quarin

Jean-Marc Quarin

Vin très coloré, au nez intense, fin, pur, fruité, évoluant très aromatique à l'agitation du verre. Minutieux en entrée de bouche, parfumé au milieu, le vin va garder cet atout jusqu'en finale où il se montre juteux et très savoureux. C'est le millésime le plus aromatique de Kirwan que je connaisse. Une fois encore l'argile gagne en 2022. 02/2025

94

James Suckling

James Suckling

Blackcurrants and blueberries with violet and heather aromas follow through to a medium to full body with firm and racy tannins and a linear and persistent finish. Solid and precise. Drink after 2028. 01/2025