Pétrus

1969 Château Pétrus. Poured from magnum. Delicious lift of dark cherries and currants with an earthy tertiary glow of soy and dark plums. Still incredibly vibrant and fresh though distinctly mellowed, layered with an evolved complexity along with sublime acidity. Highly elegant and still remarkably youthful. Outstanding. Tasted December 2019.

1971 Château Pétrus. Mature deep garnet core, proffering gentle tones of dark plums and currants on the nose whilst the palate still possesses very good levels of fullness and presence, structured with svelte tannins that still impart fine intensity with further notes of soy coming on late. Proves the point that there is no such thing as an “off year” for Pétrus. Excellent. Tasted October 2019.

1972 Château Pétrus. Distinctly evolved, this wine exuded quite a lovely fragrance of camphor and gentle red fruits amidst delicate notes of nectarine, almost ethereal upon its gentle entry onto the palate where there is still good concentration of fruit with acidity that is still remarkably fresh while its tannins have long melted. Excellent. Tasted November 2017.

1978 Château Pétrus. Tasted with palpable anticipation, this wine is utterly complex in its hallowed bouquet, exuding an enthralling glow with a spectrum of earthy elements, still beautifully fresh and vibrant on the palate that recalls bold ferrous minerals and ash seamlessly integrated with mulberries and dark currants, absolutely rounded with great transparency and complexity, offering more mandarins on the nose as it sat in the glass with a further infusion of Chinese tea leaves. Truly the epitome of finesse and elegance. At its peak and will still hold. Outstanding. Tasted August 2017.

1979 Château Pétrus. Still dark in colour. Very earthy on the nose with a mild bottle stink. Fleshy, open and seamlessly structured with highly supple tannins amidst gentle understated tones of raspberries and dark cherries. Excellent but, to be honest, I wouldn’t have known this was Pétrus if blinded. Tasted May 2018 in Hong Kong.

1990 Château Pétrus. Poured from magnum. Displaying a deep garnet red, this wine threw up an initial tinge of brett that, thankfully, blew off very quickly, exuding earthy tones with a great concentration of dark currants, rich black fruits and soy-like characters, slightly dryish but fleshy, imbued with sublime acidity and lush presence. Still remarkably fresh, imparting an exciting opulence with lovely tension and earthy pungency, just a tad stern from ferrous elements at its minerally finish. Drinking superbly by any standards, considering that it was literally popped and poured. Truly outstanding. Tasted August 2017.

1990 Château Pétrus. Tasted blind. Evolved crimson, proffering exuberant red fruits, haw and rosy hues on the nose that immediately suggests a wine of impeccable pedigree and distinction. Bright, supple and plush, layered with glorious fruit that imparted lovely acidity with understated sweet intensity, that perfumed floral fragrance again marking its presence on a bed of velvety tannins underpinned with subdued iron filings. Glowing finish. We rightly guessed a Right Bank without realising we were tasting one of the very best efforts of Pétrus. A magnum of this same wine tasted back in 2017 was even more profound in depth, dimension and definition but this is still outstanding. Tasted December 2020.

1994 Château Pétrus. Deep red with a slight evolving rim. Very open and deep on the nose with a hint of sweetness where one can sense, right away, the sizzling power and intensity beneath. The palate is richly layered with great concentration of fruit cloaked in sexy velvety tannins that caressed the palate seductively with wonderful grip, displaying excellent control of power with great finesse and elegance though it doesn’t quite possess the precision of the best years. Exudes tremendous breed and aristocracy. In a class of its own. Ample proof that 1994 is severely under-rated. Tasted September 2009.

1994 Château Pétrus. Poured from magnum. This is a masculine Pétrus, stuffed with deep currants and intense black fruits, framed by a bold structure of austere minerals and dusty tannins that produced a very lovely earthy pungency. So much for so-called off years. Excellent. Tasted December 2017 at FICOFI’s Les Palais des Grands Crus in Paris.

1995 Château Pétrus. Displaying a beautiful deep ruby, this wine exuded a great lift of hot stones with a suggestion of great clayey minerality, rounded and open with a distilled presence of dark fruits and blueberries of superb depth and richness, thoroughly seamless between the intensity of fruit and sublime acidity, finishing with excellent linearity. Glorious! Tasted November 2017.

2004 Château Pétrus. Deep ruby. Superb bouquet of dark cherries and deep rosy characters. Wonderfully pure, displaying an opulent mid-palate of complex dark fruits, ripe black berries and earthy clayey elements that exert supple intensity all through its delicious length. Impeccably proportioned, stamping its class in this classical vintage. Outstanding. Tasted December 2021.

2006 Château Pétrus. There is quite an exuberant tone of fresh raspberries, dark fruits and dark currants on the nose with a subdued earthiness, quite fleshy on the palate, softly focused with understated acidity and distinctly feminine in its highly supple gentle tannins. Tasted May 2018 in Hong Kong.

2015 Château Pétrus. At the time of this tasting, supposedly the best wine this estate has ever made. Fragrant aromas of earth, red berries and dark fruit dominate on the nose, quite resplendent, with further notes of ripe raspberries amidst a ferrous trace on the palate where the wine is quite full, displaying great acidity and tannin structure, already very harmonious in its subtle layering and drinking beautifully at this stage, finishing with great persistence. Truly a wine of great sophistication, power and elegance. Indeed, it is rare to come across a wine already so complete while still in barrel. Tasted September 2016 at the château (barrel sample).