2012 - La Fleur-Petrus, Pomerol

Tighter tannins than many in Pomerol this is built to last, with layers of liquorice, black chocolate, power and punch. You'll find more nuance in more recent vintages of La Fleur-Pétrus, but this is enjoyable, fleshy with ripe blackberry and raspberry fruit and displaying huge confidence. A great choice for signature Pomerol over the next decade or more. Harvest September 24 and October 11 - and a key vintage at the property, as this was the first vintage with the addition of land from Ch Guillot and Providence, and the removal of vines that were incorporated into sibling estate Lagrange. 50% new oak.

Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2012 La Fleur-Petrus offers up closed, very subtle scents of baked cherries, prunes, and anise with faint hints of tilled soil and tobacco. The full-bodied palate is soft and elegant, with lovely poise and a gentle, perfumed finish. This is not an overly profound wine, but very pretty.

The 2012 La Fleur-Pétrus has a well defined nose: red fruit mixed with leather and undergrowth, wild heather and sage. The palate is medium-bodied with pliant, quite fine tannins that frame the spicy red fruit, silky smooth with a caressing, sensual and rather irony finish. The second bottle at Bordeaux Index demonstrated a little more dryness on the finish. Tasted blind at the Southwold Ten-Year On tasting.