Le Petit Ducru de Ducru-Beaucaillou 2022

The fine tannins come through clearly here with black berries and hints of lavender. Medium-bodied with really fine tannins. Medium finish. A blend 75% merlot, 20% cabernet sauvignon and rest petit verdot.

Deep ruby, purple reflections, subtle brightening on the rim. Inviting black forest berries, fresh black cherries, some nougat, herbal savouriness with tobacco in the background. Good complexity, fine cherry fruit, mineral texture, integrated tannins, taut on the finish, salty and well lasting. A food wine with certain ageing potential.

The 2022 Le Petit Ducru has turned out especially well this year, offering up aromas of cherries and raspberries mingled with tobacco leaf and pencil shavings, followed by a medium to full-bodied, velvety and fleshy palate that's unusually supple and polished.

Coming from the western side of Saint-Julien and functioning basically as a third wine of Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, the 2022 Petit Ducru De Ducru-Beaucaillou is 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and the rest Petit Verdot raised in a mix of new and used barrels. A beautiful wine, it has plenty of Saint-Julien elegance and purity as well as cassis-driven fruits, notes of violet, spicy oak, and scorched earth, medium to full body, and just a silky, elegant mouthfeel. It's going to drink nicely right out of the gate.