La Fleur Pétrus 2019

Steps everything up a level, this is a beautiful wine full of promise, nuance and pleasure. Layered with plum, cassis, black truffle, smoked tea, cocoa bean, slate, charcoal, espresso, pencil lead, fresh mint leaf, juicy and restrained. Harvest September 17 to October 3. An upscore from En Primeur, and the first time I have ever rated it higher than Trotanoy at this stage.

Tasted blind. Dense garnet. Clean, fresh nose. A little tense and dry on the palate. Arguably more like a St-Émilion than a Pomerol but a good wine. Graphite finish. 15%Drink 2026– 2037

The 2019 Château La Fleur-Pétrus is a stunning example of what makes a great Pomerol – richness without weight, incredible elegance, complexity, and length, all of which it has in abundance. Giving up darker, powerful aromatics of blackcurrants, darker cherries, tobacco, chocolate, and just hints of spring flowers, it hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a layered, concentrated, incredibly sexy mouthfeel, perfect tannins, and a great finish. It's one of the most opulent, seamless, impressive wines in the vintage, although it needs at least 7-8 years of bottle age. It should be a 30- to 40-year wine. Bravo!

92% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 3% Petit Verdot. Barrel sample.There’s a lovely purity and refinement in this wine which also has lift and pep. Floral-violet aromatics, the palate smooth and sculpted with super-fine tannins and juicy, engaging fruit. Long, fresh, clean finish. (JL)Drink 2028 – 2044

The 2019 La Fleur-Pétrus has an entrancing bouquet that demands your attention, delivering a mixture of red and black fruit, licorice, fresh fig and potpourri. The oak here is beautifully integrated. The palate is very harmonious, with ripe, succulent tannins that frame the concentrated black cherry and red plum fruit, and a dash of white pepper and sage, fanning out wonderfully toward the finish. It’s almost like a slightly toned-down version of the Hosanna. This exceeds my expectations. A brilliant Pomerol. Drink 2026-2050.

The 2019 La Fleur-Pétrus underwent double sorting, optical and manual, after harvest between 17 September and 3 October. It is matured in 50% new oak. It has a gorgeous bouquet with expressive red and black fruit, intermixed with crushed stone, freshly shaved black truffle and a touch of blue fruit perhaps originating from the 3% Petit Verdot. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy black fruit, gently grippy tannins, undercurrents of tobacco and earth towards the finish. It actually ends more cerebrally than I anticipated, quite mercurial in the glass. This will require several years in bottle, but it will surely be worth the wait. Superb!2026 - 2050

This is a genuine, old-school Pomerol with blueberries, wet earth and black tea leaf. It’s full-bodied, yet balanced and beautiful. Traditional and so attractive with a modern tone.

The 2019 La Fleur Petrus is made from 94% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot. Deep garnet-purple colored, it features fragrant scents of lilacs, Morello cherries, and tilled soil over a core of black and red plums and boysenberries with a hint of truffles. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is taut and muscular with ripe, rounded tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and mineral-laced.

Very deep purple-black in color, the 2019 la Fleur-Petrus soars out of the glass with vibrant notes of freshly crushed black cherries, warm plums and kirsch with underlying suggestions of wild sage, damp soil, charcoal and unsmoked cigars plus just a hint of Sichuan pepper. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has a firm frame of ripe, grainy tannins and bags of freshness supporting the muscular black fruits, finishing long and savory.