| Region | |
|---|---|
| Subregion | France > Bordeaux > Right Bank > Pomerol |
| Colour | Red |
| Type | Still |
The 2022 Petrus was bottled in June 2024. Olivier Berrouet thought the weather conditions could have compromised the wine during the growing season. "You had to be careful to stop the aging process sooner in order to preserve the freshness," he tells me. The 2022 was aged in 50% new oak as is customary, a mixture of six cooperages. This is a Petrus that looked around at the competition and decided to remind everyone why it is so revered. It is taken to an ethereal level by Berrouet's decision just to ease off the accelerator and not push the wine. As I found from barrel, the aromatics take time to unfurl, offering gorgeous black plum, black truffle and subtle oyster shell scents. Over 20 minutes, it achieves unmatched complexity and delineation that will compare with the best vintages in recent years. The palate is medium-bodied with magical balance and poise. Compared to its showing in barrel, there is more sapidity, an ethereal sense of harmony and a pixelated finish. Sure, it is going to cost an arm and a leg, but there is no doubting that this is a sensational Petrus. 2032 - 2075
The 2022 Pétrus has turned out even better than I anticipated en primeur, displaying breathtaking purity and integration. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of mulberries, minty cherries, rose petals and violets, it's full-bodied, dense and layered, with huge depth at the core, sweet, powdery tannins and a long, resonant finish. This is a profound Pétrus in the making that exemplifies controlled power. Olivier Berrouet opted to shorten the time in barrel by a couple of months to preserve vibrancy. 2035 - 2065
I am amazed by the freshness and blue fruits here in such a hot year. So much crunchy forest-fruit character like strawberries and raspberries with fantastic peaches and orange peel. Black olives and cloves. Full-bodied yet framed and formed with extremely silky tannins and great beauty. Superbalanced and incredible for the vintage. The ethereal quality of this wine is truly wonderful. Best after 2029.
Luscious, velvety, rich and deep texture, barbecue, pencil shavings, violet uncurls after 10 minutes in the glass, and climbs in intensity. Harnesses the ripe berry fruit of the vintage while never being overpowered - this is controlled, will take its time to fully open. 3.65ph, low in the vintage explaining the grip through the palate and the magic of the Petrus soils. Winemaker Olivier Berrouet, cellar master Pierre-Jean Dalesme, in his 8th vintage at Petrus. Harvesting September 1 to 8 (only other time this early was in 2003), 30hl/h yield, 50% new oak but with their Moueix approach of washing the barrels first, taking out smoky notes and focusing on texture.
The 2022 Château Petrus showed brilliantly and is clearly in the top handful of wines in the vintage. The usual 100% Merlot and harvested between the 1st and 7th of September, it checks in as 13.5% alcohol with a pH of 3.63. Deep purple-hued, with a tight yet layered nose of darker cherries, cassis, spring flowers, violets, and perfectly integrated oak, it's full-bodied and has the vintage's pure, concentrated, powerful style, gorgeous tannins, and that classic, salty, mouthwatering finish of this château. It opens up beautifully with time in the glass, and given its purity and tannin quality, it's going to offer some up-front appeal yet have 50 years of longevity. I suspect it will take 10-12 years to hit the early stages of its prime drink window.
Aromatic and so perfumed but this really comes alive in the glass with coffee, chocolate, tobacco, blackcurrant and ripe cherry fruit - smells potent, opulent, rich and concentrated. Round, supple and agile in the mouth, a lovely intensity of dark bramble fruit accented by massy, chewy tannins that have a sharp edge to them - a vein of chalky, graphite minerality with high mouthwatering acidity. You get the power and intensity of a hot year, intensity and depth, layers of ripe fruit but with sweet, sharp and sour accents too, all giving such interest and nuance. A really appealing weight, extremely moreish and darkly charming with lift at the end. On the more generous side in all the areas with the acidity carrying the wine to a long finish. Really has the Pomerol typicality that you want - depth and richness - but giving brightness and sense of life that makes this a clear success. 3.63pH. 5-6% press wine. Harvest started on 1 September, the same date as 2003, and finished on 7 September. (Drink between 2030-2055)
The 2022 Pétrus has turned out brilliantly, bursting with aromas of mulberries, cherries, raspberries and violets, followed by a full-bodied, rich and fleshy palate that's ample and enveloping, its succulent core of fruit entirely concealing its sweet structuring tannins. Concluding with a long, resonant finish, its purity of fruit and structural suavity are deceptively effortless, but in reality result from incredible attention to detail in a vintage like this. Olivier Berrouet felt that maturity hadn't yet been attained by late August, picking a little later, with the core of the vineyard harvested on September sixth and seventh. Low yields and elevated concentration led him to reduce pumping over but prolong vatting, letting the wine take its time to come together. While I don't think it will quite rival the brilliant 2020 (time will tell!), it is a superb achievement and remarkably harmonious for such an extreme vintage.
The 2022 Petrus is initially quite standoffish (as usual), and so I wait 10 minutes, gossiping (as usual) with winemaker Olivier Berrouet, during which the Pomerol gradually reveals very pure blackcurrants tinged with blue fruit, hints of freshly shucked oyster shell and black truffle shavings. Clean and precise, the aromatics effortlessly shrug off the warmth and dryness of the summer. The palate is very detailed, extremely pure, with blackberry and wild strawberry fruit, cracked black pepper and hints of spice. It gently builds in the mouth with a vibrant and peppery finish that leaves the mouth tingling, long after the wines has bid adieu. Berrouet has captured so much freshness and energy in this Petrus, no doubt thanks to its blue clay soils. I envisage it evolving and astounding over the next half-century. (Drink between 2032-2075)
