The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's 50 best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.
Wine Description
The Story
Château Petit-Village is a jewel set in the highest part of the magnificent terroir of the Pomerol plateau, on deep gravel and clay soils with a ferrous base in the heart of the appellation.
The unique style of Château Petit-Village. It expresses the successful blend of the Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon grape varieties. Thanks to the Merlot and the Cabernet Franc, the wine offers aromatic complexity and a long, delicate finish. The Cabernet Sauvignon brings depth and a texture ideally suited for ageing.
Tasting tips: we recommend that you decant the wine before serving to enable it to fully express the range of its aromas. Best enjoyed between 17° and 19° C.
The past few years have seen major renovations and changes at Château Petit-Village. Significant replanting of the vineyard had occurred, with the long term aim of maximising quality. Short term this means that quantities of Château Petit-Village are lower than before, production of the Grand Vin coming only from the best old vine production. The winery has been completely rebuilt, with a new vatroom of concrete vats of varying sizes designed exactly for our terroir, that enable us to vinify each small parcel separately.
These changes have begun to bear fruit, with the significant improvement in quality of the wines of the property in recent years already remarked upon by the world’s wine press.
The wines of Château Petit-Village are fresh and balanced with remarkable intensity of fruit and all the incomparable richness and finesse of the greatest wines of Pomerol.
Wine Information
This great vintage is just reaching the age of reason and is proving that all the high hopes that were placed in it continue to be justified today. Its red-fruit bouquet blends perfectly with fine underwood hints and a slight leather flavor. You will be able to count on it, even after thirty years of age, thanks to its power and complexity.
he press
Beauty. Full-bodied and very smooth, with fine tannins and a long aftertaste of chocolate and berry.
92 pts – Wine Spectator – August 31st, 2000
A blockbuster with everything as it should be.
4 stars – decanter.com
Vintage 1990
Early, uniform flowering, a hot but unspectacular summer and an exceptionally hot period at the end of August 1990 and the first half of September. It was this heat that allowed the record harvest not only to fully ripen, but also to concentrate the fruit. Harvesting began on September 14 and was completed before the start of heavy rains on October 2. Another reason for the success of the vintage was that most châteaux had invested in their cellars and were able to work with such a large and hot harvest. It was now possible to control fermentation temperatures better than in previous warm vintages, such as 1947. The grapes produced wines with such a high level of natural alcohol that chaptalization became unnecessary. They showed deep color, high and unusually sweet tannin levels and better acidity than expected, as well as great concentration of fruit. The hype was great, particularly thanks to the advent of new wine magazines - this was the vintage that cemented Robert Parker's reputation. Prices rose quickly and haven't looked back since. I remember that all Premiers Crus (including Pétrus) were offered to end consumers for around 50 euros en primeur in 1983.
The scene of the arrival of the 1990 vintage was quite different. There was a surplus of very good to great wine on the market – for the first time, there was talk of three great vintages in succession. This led most châteaux to drop their prices by around 20% from their 1989 prices, even though the quality was exceptional. There had been a steady increase in prices during the 1980s, but they had now more or less returned to the opening prices of the 1982s. This was again a record harvest, but as most châteaux had already introduced a "second wine" and were more selective regarding quality, there was actually less wine bottled under the name "Grand Vin" than in 1982.
We have been following these two vintages since they were young, as they were both precocious and easy to drink from the start. The best wines from both vintages are spectacular, but the overall quality is much higher in 1990. Here, the wines have been equally successful on both sides of the river, and even the small châteaux have produced something special. We always found most Right Bank 1982s to be overly alcoholic and lacking in structure; Indeed, many age quickly.