This iconic Pomerol represents the holy grail of red wine for many connoisseurs around the world.

Owned by the Moueix family, who purchased majority shareholding from Lily Lacoste, Pétrus has a terroir unlike any other. The château is located on the mainly gravelly 200-ha Pomerol plateau in an area known as la boutonnière, a "button-hole” with crasse de fer (iron pan) soil over a 70 cm thick layer of black clay and smectite. This clay acts like a sponge, absorbing water and releasing it drop by drop according to the vine's needs. Furthermore, the slight slope drains any excess water during heavy showers towards the bottom part of the plateau. Water supply is thus perfectly regulated. Almost all the vineyard soil at Pétrus has a high clay content, whereas the land around it has a much greater percentage of sand and gravel.

Despite the fact that this clay soil is somewhat colder than the others, grapes at Pétrus’ generally ripen faster than at other estates in the appellation. The vine roots do not usually sink any deeper than 40-60 cm, meaning that they absorb the full benefit of the unique thin layer of smectite clay.

Pétrus has 11.5 ha under vine, planted with 95 Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. The plots are mechanically weeded. No chemical sprays are used, and all vineyard work is done by hand. Pruning and topping are carried out with meticulous care. Leaf thinning and bunch thinning are only employed when absolutely necessary. The twice-sorted grapes are destemmed, crushed, and put in concrete vats (which replaced the wooden vats in the 80s) for both alcoholic and malolactic fermentation. The wine is then transferred to oak barrels (70% new) for 14-18 months of aging, with racking every three months. Depending on the vintage, Pétrus is fined and put back into vat 3 months before bottling.

The Moueix enologist, Jean-Claude Berrouet, made Pétrus for 44 years (1964-2007). He passed the baton to his son Olivier, who oversaw his first vintage in 2008. Olivier always keeps an image in mind of what Pétrus should be, while adapting winemaking techniques to suit the characteristics of the year.

Olivier Berrouet also considers extracting the right tannins an essential part of producing a great wine. He believes in short extraction, since the finest, ripest tannins are always come out first. Furthermore, too much extraction produces hard, bitter tannins that taint a wine's flavour. Therefore, maceration calls for an extremely careful approach. Olivier does his best to avoid exposure to oxygen during winemaking, as it has an adverse effect on the wine’s aging potential.

In great years, Pétrus is simply sublime, with perfect balance, supremely elegant tannin, and an unbelievably long aftertaste. This unique wine improves with age, revealing complex, inimitable, truffle aromas that never fail to impress those wine lovers fortunate enough to have tasted it.

In the Bottle

On average, Petrus makes 2-3 exceptional vintages per decade. Unfortunately, the market price makes it totally out of reach for the majority of consumers. They invest in less prestigious vintages and are, on the whole, generally disappointed considering the price they paid. Our advice is to buy a legendary bottle of Petrus with a group of friends!

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Petrus