Château Petit Bocq, St Estèphe, 2009

Petit Bocq has made great strides in the last few vintages. The replanting and acquisitions are paying off; the wines are consequently more profound and complex and the Chateau is being rewarded with plenty of praise from the press. 2006 and 2008 are both wonderful efforts, but the 2009 has an altogether different personality. This is like pure cashmere. It possesses wonderful purity of fruit, splendid concentration and length, but the tannins are so fine that they are barely noticeable. This is opulent stuff; round, rich, decadent and very charming. One of our (if not our top) value buy from 2009.