This is a serious, deep and beautifully enticing wine with plenty of that glossy, glamorous Petit Mouton appeal. Ripe damson in colour, it has more Merlot in the blend than a typical year because only a small amount of the variety made it through to the first wine. The Merlots were however, as you see at many Médoc properties, unusually rich and structured and this feels enveloping and hard to resist. Extraction was slow and careful and the liquorice, chocolate, grilled sarment notes are subtle but pressing. Yields were 28hl/ha whereas a usual year would be closer to 35hl/ha. 26% of overall production, a little less than usual, and 11% press wine. Drink 2024 - 2036. 92 points

56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc. Black cherry to the rim, very dark. Ripe, sweet and gently chocolatey on the nose. Ripe plum and cassis. Fleshy and generous on the palate, rounded and smooth even though there`s clearly massive structure. Just enough freshness. Rich rather than elegant, the fruit ripe and lifted. Much more open than many wines from this vintage. Fruit bomb but well structured and just a hint of chocolate. 16.5 points

The 2018 Le Petit Mouton is blended of 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, harvested September 10 to October 3. It represents about 26% of the total crop and has 14% alcohol—the alcohol has never been this high! Deep garnet-purple, it comes bounding out of the glass with sit-up-and-beg notes of crème de cassis, plum preserves and mulberries plus nuances of chocolate box, Chinese five spice, licorice and candied violets. Full-bodied, rich and oh-so-hedonic, the palate is packed with juicy black fruit layers wrapped in a firm, velvety structure, with loads of fragrant spice layers on the very long finish. 92-94+ points

The 2018 Le Petit-Mouton is unusual in that it contains a high (40%) amount of Merlot. Pliant, racy and supple, the Petit-Mouton should d rink well with minimal cellaring. In many vintages, Petit-Mouton is a smaller-scaled version of the Grand Vin, but in 2018, the elevated presence of Merlot yields a wine that is quite different in style, with softer contours and a much gentler overall feel than is often the case. The blend is 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc. Yields were about 28 hectoliters per hectare as opposed to 34-37. 90-93 points

The second wine is 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 4% Cabernet Franc, picked from September 10th until October 3rd, as per the grand vin. It takes just 20% of the crop, so presumably 14% was downgraded into a third wine or sold off. A beautiful dark hue, with a vibrant rim, and the nose is classic 2018, dark, rich, and exploding with black cherry, damson, violet cream and peony. The palate is fresh, charming, richly polished, with a slightly minerally black-fruit character, touched with nuances of violets, plum cream, black bean and black pepper. This has the sinewy poise and energy of the vintage, with plushly polished tannins, grippy through the middle and end, with fresh acidity. An impressive showing here, with such lovely primary potential. 94-96 points