Château Kirwan 2022

Château Kirwan is a charming Third Growth estate located in the Margaux region.  Visitors that are fortunate enough to roam the grounds are often dazzled by stunning rose gardens and exquisite views of vineyards in Margaux and Cantenac.  Château Kirwan is all about accessible, modern, and elegant hospitality -- with a tasting room that looks like a quaint living room.  The message they want you to absorb here is, “Come, stay, rest awhile and taste our wines.”  Lucky visitors have the opportunity to taste vintages that date as far back as 1968 -- a rare opportunity in Bordeaux normally given to industry insiders and the elite.  This notion of elegance without pretense permeates throughout the estate, right down to the wines.  Buyers who are frustrated with the extravagant Bordeaux prices often find more recent vintages of Château Kirwan to overdeliver, yet still remain accessible and easy to purchase.  

The history of Château Kirwan dates back to 1710 when it was purchased by Englishman and experienced negociant Sir John Collingwood.  He was responsible for aggressively marketing this wine to England and ensured the wine was served at the Royal Court in London.  Collingwood willed the estate to his daughter who married Mark Kirwan.  The estate was named Château Kirwan after his surname.  Mark Kirwan increased the vineyard holdings and built the Château on the property – which still resides there in all its glory today.  In the 19th Century on his whirlwind trip to Bordeaux, Thomas Jefferson visited the estate and declared it was, “one of the great Second Growths in Bordeaux,” and considered it second in quality behind Château Margaux, Château Latour, Château Haut Brion, and Château Lafite Rothschild.  The négociants disagreed with this statement, and during the 1855 Classification Château Kirwan was ranked as a Third Growth or “Troisème Cru.”

The 40-hectare vineyard is currently run by the negociant Schyler and Schroder, and they have made a series of improvements to the estate.  The vines here are 35 years old on average.  The viticultural team at Château Kirwan recently added newer plantings of Carmenere to the standard mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc that are planted in the vineyard’s gravely terroir.  The 2017 vintage was the first vintage to feature Carmenere in the blend.  Like a few other Châteaux, Château Kirwan practices Co-inoculation, a process where malolactic fermentation takes place alongside alcoholic fermentation. This yields soft, silky and supple wines.  In the vat room, concrete tulip shaped fermentation vessels have been added to allow for parcel-by-parcel vinification. Château Kirwan started a bit of a trend with these impressive looking tanks, and other châteaux are beginning to follow suit.

The wines are soft and best enjoyed young, with a stunning lacework of tasting notes that is a signature to the wines of the Margaux region.  One can expect aromas of rose pepper, vanilla, and succulently ripe black cherries and currants. They have received mounting critical praise over the past few vintages, with fairly consistent scores in the 90 points range. These delightful, friendly wines are a fabulous example of an accessible Bordeaux.  Savvy buyers should take note -- Château Kirwan offers high quality Bordeaux wines without the pretense. 

"The 2022 Kirwan is deep garnet-purple in color. Notes of plum preserves, cherry compote, and blackcurrant cordial spill from the glass, followed by nuances of rose oil, cedar chest, and dusty soil. The medium to full-bodied palate is rich and ripe, with a lively backbone and plush tannins, finishing with a skip in its step." - Lisa Perrotti-Brown, The Wine Independent (6/2023) Ratings: 92-94

"The dense purple-hued 2022 Château Kirwan just about jumps out of the glass with its intense bouquet of cassis and blue fruits as well as spicy oak and violets. It's certainly not shy, yet it stays pure, precise, and nicely focused, with medium to full-bodied richness, ripe, building tannins, and a great finish. This beauty is just loaded with character and is well worth seeking out." - Jeb Dunnuck (5/2023) Ratings: 93-95 

"Sleek and crunchy, the bright almost high-toned red fruit take centre stage backed by crisp, fine and firm tannins with soft blueberry elements and crushed stones. Feels relatively delicate overall despite the concentration - keeps a linear frame, everything well worked, all in its place with detail and definition. This will be very delicious and true to form. Tasted twice. Harvest 5-22 September. Yield of 27hl/ha. 3.55pH. 6% Petit Verdot completes the blend." - Georgina Hindle, Decanter, (05/2023) Rating: 94

"The 2022 Kirwan bestows plenty of luscious fruit on the nose with blackberry, bilberry, cedar and crushed iris flower, unfolding nicely in the glass. There is a satisfying depth to these aromas. The palate is medium-bodied, lively and packed full of fruit, with saturated tannins and decent acidity. This is one of the more approachable Margaux wines this vintage, yet it has commendable freshness and structure. This Kirwan will give plenty of pleasure over 20-30 years. A second and third bottles were a little creamier on the finish." - Neal Martin, Vinous, (5/2023) Ratings: 92-94

"Creamy raspberry and blackberry fruits from the first moments, this delivers a deliciously velvet texture, exuberant without being heavy, cappuccino, smoked earth and cigar box. Accomplished, balanced, full of pleasure" Jane Anson, Inside Bordeaux, (04/19/2023) Ratings: 93 Drink: 2027-2042

"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." William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (04/28/2023) Ratings: (90-92)