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Pétrus is a
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
, France,
wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...
estate located in the Pomerol
appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...
near its eastern border to
Saint-Émilion Saint-Émilion (; Gascon dialect, Gascon: ''Sent Milion'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in Southwestern France. In the heart of the country of Libournais (the area around Libourne), in a regio ...
. A small estate of just , it produces a
red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties - (red grapes.) The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice fro ...
entirely from
Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...
grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...
s (since the end of 2010), and produces no
second wine Second wine or second label (French: ''Second vin'') is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from '' cuvee'' not selected for use in the ''Grand vin'' or first label. In some cases a third wine or e ...
. The estate belongs to Jean-François Moueix and his children. Although the wines of Pomerol have never been classified, Pétrus is widely regarded as the outstanding wine of the appellation.Sutcliffe, Serena, (November 2, 2004)
"Behind the Legend"
Decanter.com.
Coates, Clive (1995). ''Grands Vins''. University of California Press. pp. 448-453. Prial, Frank J. (September 26, 1990)

''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''.
Faith, Nicholas (April 16, 2003)
"Jean-Pierre Moueix"
''The Independent''.
Pétrus leads a duo of Pomerol estates in extreme prices, along with Le Pin, that rank consistently among the world's most expensive wines. A 750 ml bottle of Pétrus wine is priced at an average of $4,112.


History

Originally, a vineyard, the estate had been owned by the Arnaud family since the end of the 18th century, and the name first appears in records from 1837. In the 1868 edition of '' Cocks & Féret'', under listing ''Crus bourgeois et 1ers artisans'', Pétrus was ranked behind Vieux Château Certan and alongside Château Trotanoy. Some vintages of this period were labelled Petrus-Arnaud. At the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1878, Pétrus won a gold medal, at a time when such an event had very significant results, establishing a selling price at the level of a Médoc second growth, the first wine of Pomerol to do so. In 1917, the Arnaud family had to sell and La Société Civile du Château Pétrus, a share-holding company, was set up. Around 1925, the owner of the Hôtel Loubat in
Libourne Libourne (; ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the wine-making capital of northern Gironde and lies near Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. Geog ...
, the widow Mme. Edmond Loubat, began to buy shares in the estate and continued the acquisition progressively until 1945, when she became the sole owner of the domaine.Pitcher, Steve (April/May 1998).
"Château Petrus-A Legendary Vertical Tasting"
. ''The Wine News''.
According to David Peppercorn, "the great age of Pétrus" began with the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and the successful 1945 vintage. Jean-Pierre Moueix of the Libourne ''
négociant A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...
'' house ( Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix) acquired exclusive selling rights of Pétrus in that year, and the international reputation of Pétrus began to grow. Mme. Loubat, who also owned Château Latour à Pomerol, remained an active ''vigneronne'' throughout her life, known for her meticulous dedication to detail and quality, and strong determination that her wine deserved to be priced equal to the great ''crus''. In the following years, the efficient partnership with Moueix became prosperous.Lyons, William (April 29, 2003)
"Obituary: Jean-Pierre Moueix"
''The Scotsman''.
Pétrus was introduced to the United States. In 1947, Mme. Loubat presented two magnums of 1938 Pétrus to the Lord Mayor of London, who had come to Pomerol for a visit, for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth. After the 1956 winter
frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...
that devastated the grapevines of the Bordeaux region and killed two-thirds of the Pétrus vineyard, Mme. Loubat decided not to replant but to
coppice Coppicing is the traditional method in woodland management of cutting down a tree to a tree stump, stump, which in many species encourages new Shoot (botany), shoots to grow from the stump or roots, thus ultimately regrowing the tree. A forest ...
(cut back severely) the vines on surviving rootstocks; this process of ''recépage'' had been previously untried in the region; her success ensured that the vines' average age remained high and established a tradition that has since been followed. Pétrus' fame in the U.S. grew in the 1960s, with the promotion by Henri Soulé, owner of the restaurant Le Pavillon in New York. According to
Alexis Lichine Alexis Lichine (December 3, 1913 – June 1, 1989) was a Russian wine writer and entrepreneur. He played a key role in promoting varietal labelling of wine, was a masterful salesman of wine, had interests in two Bordeaux wineries, owning Chât ...
, " étruswas served at Le Pavillon in the days when Onassis sat at a corner table. After that, Pétrus became a status symbol, the sort of name dropped by people who wish to imply not only that they know wine but that they are in wine".Henry, Gordon M.; Sachs, Andrea & Zagorin, Adam (March 10, 1986)
"Divine Wine"
''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
''.
On the death of Mme. Loubat in 1961, the estate was divided between a niece and nephew, Mme. Lily Lacoste-Loubat and M. Lignac, and a share was left to Jean-Pierre Moueix to break any deadlock between them and to ensure Moueix' continued influence. For a period, the estate was represented by the niece, but in 1964, Jean-Pierre Moueix bought the Lignac shares, and the oenologist Jean-Claude Berrouet became permanently attached to Pétrus. Prior to this, Émile Peynaud had been employed as a part-time consultant. In 1969, of vineyard were added to the estate, purchased from neighbouring Château Gazin. increasing the surface area of Petrus from 7 to 11.4 hectares (28 acres). Following the death of Jean-Pierre Moueix in 2003, his son Jean-François Moueix, head of Groupe Duclot, is the owner of Pétrus; he and his children have controlled distribution worldwide via Clés Distribution since 2014. When Jean-Claude Berrouet retired as technical director after 45 vintages in 2008, he was replaced by his son Olivier Berrouet, who now manages the vineyard and the wine making. In September 2018, Jean-François Moueix's entourage confirmed that 20 percent of the capital had been sold to Colombian-American billionaire Alejandro Santo Domingo.


Terroir

The
vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...
of Pétrus covers and is located on a plateau in the eastern portion of Pomerol. Located on top of a island mound, the ''Pétrus boutonnière'' or buttonhole, Pétrus' original vineyard possesses topsoil and
subsoil Subsoil is the layer of soil under the topsoil on the surface of the ground. Like topsoil, it is composed of a variable mixture of small particles such as sand, silt and clay, but with a much lower percentage of organic matter and humus. The su ...
high in iron-rich
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...
that differs from neighbouring vineyards, where the soil is a mixture of gravel-sand or clay-sand. The estate was among the first in Bordeaux to implement green-harvesting or éclaircissage as a way to lower crop yields and raise the quality of the remaining grapes.


Grape varieties

The grape variety distribution is 100%
Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...
since the end of 2010. The average age of the vines exceeds 45 years. This grape variety is made up of black, medium round berries. The administration of the estate takes particular care to maximize the quality of the harvest.


Production

Petrus produces an average of 30,000 bottles per year. The grapes are hand harvested over two to three days. The wine is aged between 12 and 16 months in oak barrels, half of which are new, before bottling. A stringent pre-assemblage vat selection is carried out and certain parcels are rejected from the Grand Vin.


Description

The wine is characterized by great elegance, a complex and powerful nose and a particularly opulent fruit. The guide to Bettana and Desseauve wines (2016) describes Petrus as follows: "With its refined and deep tension and the right density, its taffeta texture and floral returns, Petrus is a wine that shines and gradually imposes itself on you."


Vintages

The best vintages are generally recognized as 1929, 1945, 1947, 1961, 1964, 1982, 1989, 1990, 2000, 2005, 2009, and 2010. In 1956, 1965, and 1991, the harvests did not produce a wine of sufficient quality and these vintages do not exist. The years 1963, 1968, 1977, or 1984 exist in very small quantities for the same reason. The vintages 1921, 1929, 1947, 1961, 1989, 1990, 2000, 2009, and 2010 all received a score of 100/100 from critic Robert Parker.


Cost

The price of a bottle varies from 1,000 euros for a "small" vintage to more than 2,500 euros for a great vintage, or even 6,000 euros for an exceptional vintage such as 1947 or 1961. According to the Wine-searcher site, Petrus is the sixth most expensive wine in the world, after five Burgundy wines, and an average price of US$625,000 (about €600,000) for all vintages and countries combined. File:Petrus04.jpg, Pétrus vineyards. File:Petrus01.jpg, The Pétrus country house.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petrus, Chateau Bordeaux wine producers Luxury brands