Château La Fleur Pétrus, Pomerol, 2022
La Fleur Petrus is always one of the most sought-after wines from Bordeaux. The original estate is a little over 9 hectares and is situated next to, you guessed it, Chateau Lafleur and Petrus. This terroir is unsurprisingly capable of producing exquisite wines. Now, the vines from Chateau Providence and a new parcel situated between Le Pin and Trotanoy (formally called Chateau Guillot) have swelled the estate to 18 hectares, making this the largest property on the plateau. This has been a firm J&B favourite in recent years, and 2022 is no exception. Produced from 96.5% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc and 0.5% Petit Verdot, this is a handsome and rippling La Fleur Petrus full of power and concentration, yet also suave and unflustered. More subtle and controlled than Hosanna, this opens with notes of briar, currants and a touch of toasty oak. The palate feels tapered with impressive detail and a seamless quality to the fruit. High toned with notes of leafy cassis, violets and hints of cranberries, this has a wonderful shape - very correct and upright, with long, flavoursome tannins which evoke perfumed fruit, earthy minerals and salts. A wonderful La Fleur Petrus.
critic reviews
The 2022 La Fleur-Pétrus has an opulent, ripe bouquet of blackberry, liquorice and brown spices, with a little heady alcohol here. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit and rounded tannins, quite plush, and there is a veneer of dark chocolate towards the finish. Quite modern in style, but it pulls it off with flair. Tasted blind at the Southwold tasting in London.
A flagship wine from the Moueix family, this is 97% Merlot and 3% Cabernet Franc. Beautifully dark and cool aromatics on the nose, black cherry and damson, with a floral rose-petal edge, but plenty of toast, cigar box and smoky oak elements as well. Supple and polished on the palate, this presents a silky texture of fruit, dark cherries and black stone fruit swirled with dark chocolate, black peppercorn and toast, draped seductively over a frame of tightly knit and powdery tannins. This is silky and seductive, and only in the finish does the rich substance of the tannins show through. Very stylish, with beautiful construct, this is set to evolve great style over the next couple of decades.
This is beautiful, totally captures the hedonism of Pomerol, luscious, deep and rather glorious in character. Bitter tinged fennel shot through with cocoa bean and cocoa dusting, pomegranate, orange peel, mandarin, just the most gorgeous balance of opulent and bitter. Great stuff, loaded with black fruits. 18.7ha, harvest September 1 to 19, deep gravel and clay on iron-rich subsoil.
The high point of the Mouiex portfolio this year is the beautiful 2022 La Fleur-Petrus, a wine that derives from a number of prime clay-gravel parcels on Pomerol's plateau. Wafting from the glass with aromas of cassis and cherries mingled with hints of orange zest, pencil shavings and toasty oak, it's medium to full-bodied, ripe and fleshy, with an ample core of fruit, ripe tannins and a long, perfumed finish. Seamless and complete, it will offer a broad drinking window.