2019 Petit Gravet Aine
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Tasting notes
Based largely on Cabernet Franc (there's 20% Merlot), the 2019 Château Petit Gravet Aîné offers a more Médoc-like bouquet of darker currants, lead pencil shavings, tobacco leaf, and chocolate. This carries to a medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, elegant Saint-Emilion that has some classic Right Bank chalky minerality, a focused, seamless mouthfeel, and a great finish. It's a beautiful, elegant, classy wine that will round into form with just 4-6 years of bottle age, and I can't imagine it not evolving gracefully for over two decades.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
The 2019 Petit Gravet Ainé did not possess a convincing nose when I tasted it from barrel, and now in bottle, it just lacks a bit of vivacity, scents of kirsch and mint eventually emerging. The palate is medium-bodied with expressive blackberry and bilberry fruit, and less austere on the finish, with some wood tannins dominating. I need to be persuaded by this.
The 2019 Petit Gravet Aîné is powerful, rich and explosive in the glass. Raspberry jam, blood orange, spice and rose petal confer striking presence to this rare 90% Cabernet Franc/10% Merlot Saint-Émilion. The 2019 is decidedly deep and plush, perhaps a bit less aromatically intense than it can be, but certainly distinctive and impeccably rendered. Petit Gravet Aîné remains one of the most unique wines in all of Bordeaux.