Aromas of blueberries, blackcurrants, raspberries and hints of minerals. Medium-bodied with fine tannins and a direct, focused finish. The fruity is in harmony with the tannins. 75% merlot, 20% cabernet sauvignon and 5% petit verdot. Drink after 2027, but already approachable.

Cool and a touch creamy in terms of texture, slightly thick with rich, concentrated black and blue fruit that have both a touch of fleshy, chewy plushness but underpinned by a cooling menthol element that creates an enticing expression overall. It stops short of being fully charged with a firm core of graphite, liquorice, aniseed and clove spice - the oak still covering the fruit at this point but giving the muscles and frame. Lots of minerality on the finish. (Drink between 2025-2037)

(WA 90-92 points) The 2022 Le Petit Ducru has turned out especially well this year, offering up aromas of cherries and raspberries mingled with tobacco leaf and pencil shavings, followed by a medium to full-bodied, velvety and fleshy palate that's unusually supple and polished. - William Kelley

The 2022 Le Petit Ducru is bursting with inky dark red/blue fruit, new leather, spice tobacco, graphite, mocha and espresso. This bold, juicy Saint-Julien offers tons of immediacy, as the Merlot was especially ripe. Le Petit Ducru is quite the extrovert, but it has good structure, too. -- Antonio Galloni

Creamy generosity to the blackberry and cassis fruits, showing intensity and depth, knitted down right now, and with clear ageing potential and heavy black pepper spice. Tasted twice, this is an En Primeur wine to its boots, feels young and full of promise. 25ha on western side of St Julien (formerly Lalande Borie until 2018, plus sourcing from across the appellation), 3.77ph, IPT86, 43% new oak for ageing.

The blend is unchanged, being 75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot. The élevage here was in one-third new oak, the rest second- and third-fill, the usual Bordeaux model, for 12 months. This is elegant and open on the nose, with bright cranberry and strawberry suggestions, the Merlot showing through, with a touch of red pepper and cedar. The palate is gently polished, with a supple and broad texture, filled with lightly powdery tannins, with red cherry, strawberry and pepper notes closely mirroring the nose. The structure feels firm but correct, adding bite rather than an overbearing structure which demands cellar time. This will be drinking before too long. The alcohol on the label is 14%. - Chris Kissack