CHÂTEAU PETIT VILLAGE
2022 Pomerol
The 2022 Petit-Village, a blend of 68% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc and 7% Cabernet Sauvignon, is endowed with a ripe, slightly candied nose, lively red berry fruit tinged with blood orange. It responds well to aeration, cohering and gaining focus. The palate is well balanced, with slightly tertiary-infused black fruit, just a touch of piquancy toward the finish. There is a pleasing corpulence to this Pomerol, though it never quite engages full-throttle when some of its neighbors have in this vintage. This is an estate that has more to give, not now but in the future. Drinking range: 2028 - 2048 Rating: 91-93 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2023)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
65% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon. 80% new oak. 14% alc. There is an overriding sense of coolness and refinement here, and while this might appear confident, controlled and calm, I have a nagging feeling that it makes Petit-Village feel a hint underpowered and lacking on the nose and mid-palate. Granted, this is a nicely balanced and quiet wine, but in this outstanding vintage, I am looking for a little more in the way of fireworks and energy. Rating: 17.5 Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (May 2023)
Cassis, mocha, coffee bean, densely packed but supple dark fruits. There is clear acidity and it is needed amid the intensity of the fruit, with everything offset by curls of attractive peony and rose notes. Harvest September 2 to 19 (but the begining was for the second wine). 10.5ha, 3rd year with the Moulin family as owners. Soft extraction, no pumpovers. 30hl/h yield, from a section of the vineyard with a lot of clays that kept freshness in this vintage. Guillaume Fredoux winemaker (the same team now works across both Petit Village and Beauregard). 45% new oak, 5% of 500l oak casks, 3.85ph, Drinking range: 2027 - 2042 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, Decanter (May 2023)
10.5-ha triangular vineyard opposite Beauregard, all on top of the plateau. Some deep, dry gravel near Vieux Château Certan where the oldest block is. The Moulin family (of Galeries Lafayette) are currently restructuring/replanting the vineyard. 65% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Franc, 7% Cabernet Sauvignon. The oldest block is a co-planting of the two Cabernets. In 2022, they added a new bit of kit that destems by density and rinses the dust off the grapes during the process. Cask sample. Some unusually savoury notes on the nose. Gentle texture with the tannin becoming evident only on the very end. Very glossy, polished tannins which become evident on the finish. Confident wine that suggests the property is being taken seriously. Drinking range: 2028 - 2042 Rating: 16.5+ Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (May 2023)
The 2022 Petit-Village comes across as very dark and concentrated. Black cherry, espresso, chocolate, licorice, menthol and tobacco power through. In this tasting, the 2022 comes across as deeply extracted, with a strong oak imprint and bruising tannins. This feels a bit pushed to me. Drinking range: 2027 - 2037 Rating: 91-93 Antonio Galloni, www.vinous.com (May 2023)
The black berry, dark chocolate and crushed stone character is really pretty. Full-bodied and solid with fine tannins that spread across the palate. Silky and soft at the end. Very long and fine. Wait and see. Rating: 97-98 James Suckling, www.jamessuckling.com (May 2023)
Offering up aromas of dark berries, plum preserve and kirsch, framed by creamy new oak, the 2022 Petit Village is medium to full-bodied, with a sweet, fleshy, somewhat baked core of fruit framed by generously extracted tannins. It appears to be a wine without a very strong sense of identity. Rating: 89-91 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (Apr 2023)
Cassis, mocha, coffee bean, densely packed but supple dark fruits. There is clear acidity and it is needed amid the intensity of the fruit, with everything offset by curls of attractive peony and rose notes. Harvest September 2 to 19 (but the begining was for the second wine). 10.5ha, 3rd year with the Moulin family as owners. Soft extraction, no pumpovers. 30hl/h yield, from a section of the vineyard with a lot of clays that kept freshness in this vintage. Guillaume Fredoux winemaker (the same team now works across both Petit Village and Beauregard). 45% new oak, 5% of 500l oak casks, 3.85ph, Drinking range: 2027 - 2042 Rating: 93 Jane Anson, www.janeanson.com (Apr 2023)
Château Petit Village
Up on the Pomerol plateau, just east of Catusseau, on ideal gravel and clay soil is Château Petit Village. A habitually complicated but unremarkable history comes to life with its purchase, in 1919 by the Ginestet family. This brought Petit Village into common ownership with Château Cos’d’Estournel and, later, Château Margaux. Despite its illustrious stable-mates, the Ginestet family’s tenure coincided with difficult times for Bordeaux estates, culminating in the disastrous frost of 1956 which wiped out vineyards across the region. In a move that seems bizarre in hindsight, much of Petit Village was replanted with Cabernet Sauvignon which made up an untypical greater portion of the vineyards until the 1970’s. Bruno Prats took control in 1971, having married into the family, and immediately set about replacing most of the Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot and modernising the winery, but sold Petit Village in 1989 in order to concentrate his efforts on Cos d’Estournel. The new owners of Château Petit Village were AXA Millésimes, who own it to this day, along with Château Pichon Longueville Baron in Pauillac and Château Suduiraut in Sauternes as well as operations in Hungary and Portugal. AXA’s stewardship has seen Jean Michel Cazes (of Lynch Bages fame) and latterly Christian Seely overseeing considerable improvements at Petit Village. One of the more noticeable improvements has been the building of a starkly modern extension to the winery. The 10.5ha of vineyards sit in a single triangular block wedged between Conseillante, Vieux Château Certan, Certan de May and Beauregard. Le Pin sits near enough to be counted as a neighbour. There are 75% Merlot and 18% Cabernet Franc, with the residual 7% Cabernet Sauvignon being among the highest proportions in Pomerol. The average age of the vines in 35 years old, although one plot of Merlot remains that was planted 1947.
Please make sure that you have read the terms of this offer which are different from those on the main website. If you are unclear as to what is involved in primeur purchases please do contact our private client team via email or on 020 7018 0187.
Ordering
Prices are all in bond by the case size stated.
Pre-Orders are a firm commitment to buy wines on release, as long as the release price is within the upper and lower price bands set by you on the pre-order form. Pre-orders will be fulfilled subject to availability but providing this firm commitment to buy effectively gives you priority and is a good idea for the most desirable wines.
Wines listed on the website can be ordered in the usual way via the website wishlist order form. You can also send orders directly to our private client team via email. Please note that, for the most sought-after wines, priority will be given to those who ordered the same wines last year and to those that have pre-ordered.
Confirmation
All orders will be confirmed by email and are binding unless written cancellation is received within seven days of email confirmation. Pre-orders are not binding if the release price is above your upper price band.
Invoices are all raised at the in bond price (excluding any duty and VAT) which will become payable at the prevailing rates when the wines arrive in the UK, should you wish to take duty paid delivery.
Payment is required on sight of invoice, by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We regret we cannot accept credit cards for en primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.
Delivery
- Shipment to our bond (at LCB Creek Road) and insurance are included in the in bond price.
- Delivery is free to Lea and Sandeman / Elephant storage accounts, both duty paid and in bond.
- Other deliveries (In Bond and Duty Paid) are also free subject to a minimum order from the offer of £500. Orders below this total will be charged an administration and handling fee of £16.50+ VAT when invoices are issued. We will group deliveries and this is a charge for your entire purchases, not a per-case charge.
- Delivery of 2024 Bordeaux bought en primeur is expected during 2026. Delivery dates may vary as wines are shipped from Bordeaux at different times.
Practical notes - how it works
We start a sale in each customer's name and add all their primeur orders to one sale which is invoiced at the end of the campaign (or when the customer wishes). Immediate payment of invoices is then required by cash, cheque, debit card or bank transfer. We and our customers find that having a single invoice for the vintage is the simpler option but please note that confirmed orders are still binding even if the final invoice has not yet been issued.
Please specify on your wishlist order form where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. If this is to a third-party bonded warehouse, please specify the relevant account details. If the wines are required duty-paid we will issue a second invoice for duty and VAT at the prevailing rate when the wines are available for delivery.
Half-bottles, Magnums and larger bottles.
One of the additional advantages of buying en primeur is being able to order the wine in the format you want. While most of our listings are for 75cl bottles, we can source wines in any format that is offered by the Château. Please note that format requests cannot be changed once wines have been invoiced. Additional charges for special formats do apply and are as follows:-
- +£18.00 per case of 12 half-bottles
- +£30.00 per case of 24 half-bottles
- +£7.50 per case of 3 Magnums (2 bottles equivalent, 1.5 litres each)
- +£11.00 per case of 6 Magnums
- +£45.00 per individually boxed Double Magnum (4 bottles equivalent, 3 litres)
- +£60.00 per individually boxed Imperial (8 bottles equivalent, 6 litres) for Salmanazars, Balthazars, Nebuchadnezzars and Melchiors please enquire for availability and price.
Storage Options:
Wines bought en primeur won't arrive in the UK until 2026. If you do not wish to take home delivery at that point, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our private client team for more information.