Chateau Petrus 2016

Jancis Robinson: Lightish ruby. Very pretty cherry fruit jumping from the glass and just a touch of wild herbs from the whole-bunch influence. Opens up to a more peppery lift, almost makes me want to sneeze. I’ve never taken snuff but I wonder if the revitalising effect is similar? There’s still all that tangy wild cherry on the palate but it is more severe than I expected from the nose, really corseted by the super-fine but strict tannins. Amazing power after such a pretty first impression. As with the Romanée-St-Vivant, the whole-bunch aroma – very hard to describe but it has a sort of fresh, herbal, dusty, woodland effect – grows in the glass. Darker on the finish, really sinewy and perfectly firm, compact, endless. (19/20, 2019)

Parker: Broader-shouldered and ampler than the Romanée-St-Vivant, the 2016 Richebourg Grand Cru unfurls in the glass with a lavish bouquet of cassis, dark plums, candied peel, potpourri, Asian spices, peonies and smoked duck. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, rich and expansive, with considerable depth and dimension at the core, and a gourmand, almost fleshy profile that marries beautifully with its cool, precise fruit tones and its velvety structuring tannins. This is a superb Richerbourg that to my palate surpasses the 2015 rendition.(97/100, 2019)