Château Melin 2022 is a Merlot-led Saint-Émilion red from Bordeaux, ripe and generous rather than austere. The warm, dry 2022 growing season across Bordeaux shows in its dark fruit and soft, rounded shape.

Plum and blackcurrant lead the aroma, with dried fig, cocoa and a savoury edge of cured meat and dry earth underneath. The palate follows the nose closely, sweet-fruited in the mid-palate and carrying a little more weight than you might expect at this end of Saint-Émilion.

Tannins are fine-grained and settled, giving the wine grip without hardness, and acidity keeps the ripeness of the vintage in check. The finish is medium in length and gently drying, closing on damp earth and dark chocolate. A short time in a decanter opens it up considerably, so it's worth pouring an hour ahead.

Roast lamb with garlic and rosemary is the obvious match, though Château Melin handles duck, braised beef cheeks, mushroom ragù and hard washed-rind cheeses just as happily. Simple charcuterie and bread works if you'd rather not cook.

Drink the 2022 now through to roughly 2032, with the middle years likely to show the most complexity as the primary fruit softens into leather and undergrowth.