Winemaker Notes
Blend: 90% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Rich dark plums and blackberries with roasted spices and a touch of cocoa powder. Medium to full body with fine, dusty tannins and a long, flavorful finish. 89% merlot, 8% cabernet franc and 3% cabernet franc.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 La Fleur-Pétrus is broad and unctuous, offering up aromas of Agen prunes, dark berries and cherries mingled with notions of sweet spices, licorice and raisin fruitcake. Full-bodied, rich and chocolaty, it's ripe and heady, with an ample core of fruit and a sweet, lingering finish. The warmth and sunshine of the vintage is on full display.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A broad, decadent Saint-Émilion in the vintage, the 2022 Château La Fleur (Dassault) delivers ripe red and black fruits, floral notes, spice, and truffle. Medium to full-bodied and velvety in texture, it has a wonderfully layered mouthfeel and an undeniably delicious profile. Based on 89% Merlot, 8% Cabernet Franc, and the rest Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Decanter
Vibrant and forward, juicy and succulent, a great combination of lively black and red fruit with high, energetic acidity that keeps things lifted with a stony mineral undercurrent. You feel the heat on the nose, but no so on the palate with freshness and terroir markers. Really delightful to taste and drink now, smooth, round, bright and focussed with plenty of detail and finesse with licks of liquorice, clove, salt and dark chocolate on the finish giving hints of oak. Should age nicely. 3.6pH. Ageing 12-16 months, 60% new French oak barrels, 20% one wine barrels, 12% amphora and 8% stainless steel. Rolland & Associés consultants.
Barrel Sample: 92
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
Marked by its historic fortified village—perhaps the prettiest in all of Bordeaux, the St-Émilion appellation, along with its neighboring village of Pomerol, are leaders in quality on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. These Merlot-dominant red wines (complemented by various amounts of Cabernet Franc and/or Cabernet Sauvignon) remain some of the most admired and collected wines of the world.
St-Émilion has the longest history in wine production in Bordeaux—longer than the Left Bank—dating back to an 8th century monk named Saint Émilion who became a hermit in one of the many limestone caves scattered throughout the area.
Today St-Émilion is made up of hundreds of independent farmers dedicated to the same thing: growing Merlot and Cabernet Franc (and tiny amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon). While always roughly the same blend, the wines of St-Émilion vary considerably depending on the soil upon which they are grown—and the soils do vary considerably throughout the region.
The chateaux with the highest classification (Premier Grand Cru Classés) are on gravel-rich soils or steep, clay-limestone hillsides. There are only four given the highest rank, called Premier Grand Cru Classés A (Chateau Cheval Blanc, Ausone, Angélus, Pavie) and 14 are Premier Grand Cru Classés B. Much of the rest of the vineyards in the appellation are on flatter land where the soils are a mix of gravel, sand and alluvial matter.
Great wines from St-Émilion will be deep in color, and might have characteristics of blackberry liqueur, black raspberry, licorice, chocolate, grilled meat, earth or truffles. They will be bold, layered and lush.