Petrus: Magnificent Merlot

Wine Team New York | October 12, 2023

Petrus is a reference point estate of Pomerol, and a guiding light of excellence for Bordeaux at large.

Few producers in the world can match these behemoth wines for pure muscle and sensational concentration. The château’s 100% Merlot cuvées are giants, yet they remain astoundingly classically proportioned, allowing the wines to age 50 years or more with ease. Considered among the elite best of Bordeaux in nearly every vintage, it’s difficult to do justice to the kingly power and awesome prestige commanded by this singular estate.

A collection like the one below is vanishingly rare – here are several of the greatest vintages of the last decade, complemented by library releases that are displaying their full velvety splendor after spending close to half a century in the cellar. For wines as precious as these, be mindful of our limited selection – only 1 bottle per buyer for the 2019, and only 3 bottles per client for the 2018.

How does Petrus achieve such magnificence? Look to its single 11-hectare parcel – the only vineyard of its kind in Pomerol to be entirely composed of a rare blue clay soil. While allowing for ideal drainage, the soils also force roots to stretch out underground, vesting the estate’s old vines with power and complexity.

In recent, warmer vintages, winemaker Olivier Berrouet has attempted to rein in the massive richness that this clay-based plateau achieves almost effortlessly. The result is wines that carry their tremendous heft with profound grace.

The ripeness and density of the 2019 vintage yielded a modern classic at Petrus, while the 2018 bottling melds the year’s freshness and energy with a massive structure built for the long haul, destined for legend. The near-flawless 2017 is Pomerol elegance personified, and our magnum offering is a collector’s dream.

The two rare back vintages from the 1970s show the incredible staying power of Petrus: supple beauties ironed with age to sumptuous softness, the work of an estate with few equals in brilliance.