The Wine Review Online rates this rare Petite Verdot the best Battuello wine yet (and four points higher than their brilliant Cabernet!), saying:
I’m seeing more and more of this variety getting top billing on labels these days. Petit Verdot usually plays a bit part in blends, serving to deepen color and fill what winemakers call “hole in the middle” issues thanks to its round personality. This bottling lets other facets come to the fore, with chocolate and layered fall spice and soft pepper joining rich black fruit. There’s a little saline note that adds a savory character to the bold fruit, and it makes for an elevated dialogue of flavor. It’s a fine partner for beef dishes, and it’s got the structure to age a good while. Great stuff.
(Indeed, it just edges out our wonderful Rasa from Washington as one of their top Petit Verdots ever!)
And the brilliant Alder Yarrow (in his Vinography) agrees:
Inky garnet in the glass, this wine smells of black cherry and cassis. In the mouth, rich black cherry, blackberry and cassis flavors are bright with juicy acidity even as they sit with some weight on the palate. Toasty notes of oak float on top of the dark fruit, and powdery tannins fill every nook and cranny of the mouth. A touch of cola lingers in the finish. Brawny, but not overpowering in its richness.
Dunnuck and Suckling both rate this outstanding, too.
This utterly brilliant Petit Verdot shows just why this is Napa’s most expensive and in demand grape right now.
