2024 Petit Village

A blend of 60% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Franc, and 9% Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in 45% new oak and 55% once-used barrels (including 25% in 500-liter), the 2024 Château Petit Village is rock solid, showing ripe red and black fruits, graphite, scorched earth, and violets. Medium-bodied and concentrated on the palate, it has a pure, layered mouthfeel, serious mid-palate depth, and a great finish.

Gentle cocoa bean toasting on the opening, gunsmoke and sappy fruit, juicy on the finish, with precisely carved tannins. Average age over 50 years for the vines here, which helped in the vintage, plus they had the biggest team that they'd ever had in the vineyard for harvesting so could be very reactive, 45% new oak barrels plus 25% in 500l barrels, 20hl/ha, 3.65ph. New director Lauren Laudrin has just arrived, so this is the last vintage with Vincent Priou as estate director, altough he will remain as a consultant. This is the 10 year anniversary of the Moulin family at the estate. No chaptilisation.

The 2024 Petit-Village was picked from September 21 to October 3 at 20 hl/ha and aged in 45% new oak for a planned 14 to 16 months. Optical sorting and a bain densimétrique were used to sort the fruit at reception. It offers mulberry, red plum and light rose petal scents on the nose with a little fresh prune and dark chocolate in the background. I would like a little more mineralité to show through here. The palate is medium-bodied and certainly well balanced, with light but pliant tannins and a precise, slender but satisfying finish. This is no doubt an early-drinking Petit-Village, but it should drink well for up to 15 years.