Despite being unclassified, Pétrus is the most famous and the most prestigious.
Château Pétrus is a wine estate of Bordeaux, France located in the Pomerol appellation near Saint-Émilion, its eastern border. Pomerol is located on the Right Bank of the Dordogne river in Bordeaux, just north of the city of Libourne..
The 11.5 hectare Pétrus vineyard is planted to 100% Merlot. The Blue Clay of Pétrus is at least 40 million years old to start. The thick gravel on the surrounding plateau is about 1 million years old. The topsoil and subsoil high in iron-rich clay is 60 to 80 cm thick. On average, the vines of Pétrus are 40 years of age. The Pétrus vineyards are replanted at a pace that allows work to be conducted on a portion of one hectare every 7 to 9 years. While the average age is kept at 40 years, the oldest vines of Pétrus were planted in 1952.
The production is almost half of what it was previously with average yields of 40 hectoliters per hectare. The average production of Pétrus is 2,500 cases / 30,000 bottles per year. The grapes are hand harvested over a period of two to three days. The wine is aged between 12 and 16 months in oak barrels, half of which are new, before bottling. There is no second wine at Pétrus. Those lots which are rejected are sold off as generic Pomerol wines.
Pétrus is much better with at least 15-20 or more years of aging in good vintages. Young vintages can be decanted for 2-4 hours, or more. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment. Pétrus offers its best drinking and should reach peak maturity between 15-45 years of age after the vintage.
Appreciated by John F Kennedy and getting great scores by Robert Parker, James Suckling and many others, the wines of Pétrus have gained a very prestigious reputation all over the world.
Retail prices for good vintages will range between 1100 and 3500 euros ($1470–$4670) a bottle. For lesser vintages, that price falls to a comparatively cheap 350 to 500 euros ($470–$670) a bottle.
Vintages
The best vintages of Pétrus are: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005, 2001, 2000, 1998, 1995, 1990, 1989, 1982, 1975, 1971, 1970, 1964, 1961, 1959, 1955, 1953, 1950, 1949, 1948, 1947, 1945, 1929, 1928 and 1921.
In 1956, 1965 and 1991, the harvest was not good enough to produce a wine of sufficient quality and these vintages do not exist.
The years 1963, 1968, 1977 or 1984 exist in very small quantities because of poor harvest.
The vintages 1921, 1929, 1947, 1961, 1989, 1990, 2000, 2009 and 2010 all received a score of 100/100 from critic Robert Parker.
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