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Rather tropical fruit aromas like pineapple and mangoes, as well as white peaches and lemons with hints of stones and minerals. It’s full-bodied with plenty of fruit, yet it’s fresh and steely. Lots of white peaches at the end. Hints of lees too, like bread dough. 80% sauvignon blanc and 20% semillon.James Suckling | 96 JSCola, liquorice and ripe blueberries on the nose - perfumed, heady and expressive. So delicious on the palate, smooth and driving with excellent energy - a youthful tension to the mid-palate. Sleek and stylish with a gorgeous texture, perfectly weighted to give a mouthfilling expression yet keeping a refined and focused delivery of black fruit, liquorice and floral flavours. Impressive and supremely pleasurable - this makes you want a glass immediately. Spicy, and perfumed because of the Cabernet Franc but all the better for it with 59% Cabernet Franc and 41% Merlot.Decanter | 95 DECThe 2020 Le Petit Cheval is stunning. Rich, deep and expansive, the Petit Cheval is outrageously good. In fact, it could easily be mistaken for a Cheval Blanc from anything less than a great vintage. The aromatics are alluring and the balance is sublime; all that really identifies this as a second wine is a bit of mid-palate depth. Sweet floral and spice accents extend the effortless, gracious finish.Vinous Media | 94 VMI wrote in my note on the 2020 Château Cheval Blanc Le Petit Cheval that this is "one hell of a second wine," and it has a kiss of the elegance and complexity found in the top cuvée. Black fruits, roasted herbs, graphite, and scorched earth notes all emerge from this ruby/purple-hued beauty, which has medium to full-bodied richness, ripe, polished tannins, and a great finish. It will drink nicely for 15+ years.Jeb Dunnuck | 94 JDThis second wine shows so many of the rich, dense qualities of the top wine. Bold black fruits are sustained by serious tannins and a dry core. It will age well. Drink from 2026Wine Enthusiast | 93 WEThe 2020 Le Petit Cheval offers up aromas of minty cherries, plums, raw cocoa, mint and spices, followed by a medium to full-bodied, fleshy and voluptuous palate underpinned by a broad-shouldered chassis of tannin. A blend of 59% Cabernet Franc and 41% Merlot, it’s a rather structured young Petit Cheval that will reward a bit of patience.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 91+ RPSleek and solid, with a well-defined core of dark currant and black cherry puree lined with black licorice and sweet tobacco. Boasts black tea and warm paving stone accents through the finish. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Drink now through 2033.Wine Spectator | 91 WS

A seriously impressive Petrus in 2020. Less hedonistic and instantly emotional than 2019, more sultry, almost shy and reserved but with definition, weight, succulence and suppleness that shines through. It has a silky tannic tension and clear power but not heft, only a soft muscular expansion that comes with a grip and chew to the black fruits with medicinal, liquorice edges and mouthwatering acidity. Understated yet utterly captivating, it takes its time to come out of its shell - a little serious right now but at the same time it’s stylish with a bright, lifted finish reminding you of the juicy freshness that’s possible even in such warm vintages. A shining star that will be magnificent in time.Decanter | 100 DECAs I observed to Olivier Berrouet, it’s hardly very original to find a wine critic extolling the virtues of this Pomerol reference point; and yet, whether one likes it or not, there’s no denying that the 2020 Pétrus is a brilliant achievement and indeed one of the very finest vintages at this address over the last two decades. Unwinding in the glass with a deep bouquet of dark berries, cherries and cassis mingled with hints of exotic spices, violets and vine smoke, it’s full-bodied, layered and concentrated, with huge depth at the core, exquisitely refined tannins and a youthfully reserved, even restrained profile despite its power and size. This serious, classically proportioned Pétrus is a monument in the making.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPThe transparency and complexity in the nose is wonderful, with so much floral character like violets and roses with some fresh spices. Dark berries, too. Sandalwood. It’s medium-bodied but then it just opens and unfolds with incredible depth of fine tannins and great length. It goes on for minutes. It opens like butterfly wings. What a wine. Superb. Drink after 2028.James Suckling | 100 JSThe 2020 Pétrus is a wine of pure and total sensuality. Silky, creamy tannins wrap around a core of dark red and black fruit. A wine with explosive depth but no hard edges and mind-blowing balance, the 2020 is so alluring, even in the early going. Time in the glass brings out lifted floral top notes that add freshness. What strikes most is the elegance of the tannins. I don’t think I have ever tasted a young Pétrus like the 2020. Technical Director Olivier Berrouet gave the 2020 a bit more time on the skins than is normal. Aging was 17-18 months in oak. Let’s cut to the chase. The 2020 Pétrus is profoundly great.Vinous Media | 99 VMWonderfully aromatic, this wine offers ripe tannins that give the appearance of softness. That’s deceptive because the wine’s structure is massive and concentrated. Velvet black fruits are embedded in the texture, superripe without losing freshness. Drink from 2027.Wine Enthusiast | 98 WEDelivers a fairly gorgeous beam of ripe, lush, unadulterated raspberry fruit flecked with light anise, apple wood and sweet tobacco hints along the way, but this is driven from start to finish primarily by the fruit. Showing a subtle mineral edge that adds detail on the finish, this has impressive poise for the vintage. Finishes with a burnish leather feel rather than succulence, but that’s the vintage’s fault in the end. Best from 2026 through 2040.Wine Spectator | 96 WS