Producer profile: Petrus, Pomerol
Icon: it’s a word that is much overused, in wine as elsewhere. But in the context of the world’s greatest wines, none could be more deserving of the descriptor than this sought-after and convention-defying estate on Bordeaux’s Right Bank.
Jane Anson gets to the heart of the enigma that is Petrus
It says something when you open a bottle of wine that everybody around the table has already declared is almost certainly a fake, and yet it still creates a ripple of excitement. But that’s what the sight of Petrus 1945 on a label does to people – me included; this was at a supper with friends in Bordeaux about 10 years ago, the bottle provided by a US merchant who said, with admirable honesty: ‘I know this isn’t real, or I wouldn’t be opening it.’
It further says something when, of the various people I asked for comments about this estate, a full half of them asked if they could remain anonymous. But that’s what the thought of losing an allocation of Petrus does to people. The rest of us – who don’t get to trade in it, or to put bottles away for our children’s university fund – can start to understand why, when we see headlines about auction prices, such as one in the US in 2018, where the 1998 Petrus reached US$38,000 for a single case – and even the least expensive year is unlikely to go for less than £20,000 in the UK market. Not to mention the cool valuation of $1 billion for the 11.5ha estate when owner Moueix sold 20% of its capital to a Colombian-American investor in 2018.
Discreetly desirable
Petrus has a history that only really began to gather speed and weight in the 1940s, but today crushes 99% of classified wines on both Left and Right Banks in terms of name recognition and pricing. It’s so confident that it no longer even uses the term ‘château’. This is Petrus: no accent, no flourishes. Those are left for the wine.
In keeping with much of Pomerol, even the entrance is discreet, with the handsome but somewhat anonymous limestone building marked out by iron railings displaying the crossed keys of St Peter. It’s an image that first appeared on the label of Petrus in the 1940s. Commissioned by Marie-Louise Labat, the woman whose tireless belief in her wine saw it land on the best tables of Europe and America, the keys are a symbol that speak to the initiated and render a sign declaring the château name entirely redundant (although there is lettering set into the stone wall).
Its renown rests on several things. Its taste, for one thing, which is layered and complex, majoring on blueberry and cassis fruits, with truffles that appear early on and become more intense with age, all set against crushed
stone, slate, black chocolate and an abundance of caressing tannins (once it gets over an often-stubborn early stretch).
But taste alone is not enough, because Petrus shares with all great wines an ability to reach far beyond those who have been lucky enough to uncork a bottle.
Its rarity is another factor. At just 11.5ha, Petrus produces in the region of 2,500 cases of 12 bottles per year, depending on the vintage: a fraction compared to the 110ha Château Lafite Rothschild in Pauillac – although Petrus makes a higher proportion of first wine from its vineyard, so the final comparison is probably closer to 20% of Lafite’s production. And where Lafite is sold via the Place de Bordeaux with multiple merchants, Petrus tightly controls its own distribution, ensuring an alluring rarity, which the Left Bank first growths find hard to emulate – something that Petrus doubles down on, offering no website, no Twitter, no Instagram.
Singular entity
Petrus also stands out from the rest of the first growths for its blend – or rather the absence of it. There are other 100% Merlot wines, of course – neighbouring Le Pin springs to mind. But at Petrus, the idea of one terroir, one grape variety has been elevated to a form of myth, with a ‘Burgundian purity’, as Adam BrettSmith of Corney & Barrow has described it.
Couple that with hands-off winemaking and you have a distinct sense of place that ensures Petrus truly stands on its own. Winemaker Olivier Berrouet – second generation in the cellars here after his legendary father Jean-Claude Berrouet, similarly charming with a sideline in San Francisco 49ers predictions – has variously described this combination of soil and grape as ‘sincere’, ‘authentic’, ‘pure’ and ‘animal’.
‘There is so much natural power in the soils that in the cellar we need to keep things as simple as possible,’ says Berrouet. ‘The wine goes into cement tanks, with never more than 50% new oak during ageing.
And we use barrels that have been carefully pre-rinsed with water to ensure oak flavours are never overwhelming.’
This soil is the true difference of Petrus. The dense, sticky ‘blue’ clay that comprises almost the entirety of the vineyard is found in only tiny quantities across the entire region. And for once it is not hyperbole. While working on a map of Pomerol prepared for my Inside Bordeaux book, Professor Kees van
Leeuwen of ISVV (Bordeaux’s Institute of Wine and Vine Science) estimated that this particular type of soil covers far less than 1% of the entire 110,000ha of Bordeaux. Much of Pomerol has clay, for sure, but not this clay.
‘It’s a particularly dense form of clay that is dark on top because of all the organic matter that is contained within it,’ says Berrouet. ‘It transmits huge power to the wine, although that makes it sometimes a little closed when young, compared to other Pomerols’.
Own destiny
The simple brilliance of its proposition – one grape, one soil – has meant Petrus has taken some of the major changes of the past decade comfortably in its stride. Until 2009, to all outward appearances Petrus was owned equally by the two sons of Jean-Pierre Moueix. There was Christian, who heads up négociant house Ets JP Moueix in Libourne, as well as numerous estates from Château Trotanoy to La Fleur-Pétrus; and his elder brother JeanFrançois, who heads up Duclot, the other family négociant business based in Bordeaux city. In 2009, it emerged that Jean-François was the sole owner of Petrus, and that the two sides of the family business were being split into entirely separate entities.
As of 2013, a sole distribution company, Clés Distribution, was established for Petrus, run first by Christophe Jacquemin Sablon, and now Eric Simonet. For the UK market, this meant changing from one importer, Corney & Barrow, to three, adding Berry Bros & Rudd and Justerini & Brooks. It also meant that
‘At Petrus, the idea of one terroir, one grape variety has been elevated to a form of myth’
Petrus now stood on its own, not linked to any other wines – importantly, not even those distributed through Duclot, the négociant also owned by Jean-Francois Moueix and his son Jean. Instead, distributors now buy direct from Clés Distribution. It was a move that gave it even more focus and power.
On a mission
None of this is to say that Petrus is immune to the market. The past year has seen prices fall across all vintages. In September 2020, the excellent 2009 vintage, for example, was available for £32,700, according to Liv-ex – down 1.3% from its 2019 price, with the 2010 down 2.3% to £33,200. The biggest drops are for recent vintages – led by the 2017, which has seen an 18.9% drop to £24,382.
The longer term trend is unquestionably positive though – Liv-ex’s Petrus index, which tracks price movements of the last 10 physical vintages, rose 37.4% over the five years 20132018. It had outperformed the Liv-ex 100 and the Bordeaux 500, which were up 19.9% and 27% over the same period (see graph, above).
One of my anonymous merchants, mentioned earlier, commented: ‘There is a lot of demand, especially in these difficult times when customers are looking for safe places to put their money.
‘And it helps that Petrus is also one of the only estates in Bordeaux to understand that to create an icon, you have to create value [in the supply chain] for everyone.’
‘Our mission is very straightforward, and we rely on importers and distributors to implement it in their respective markets,’ says Simonet, with the understatement reserved only for the exceptionally powerful.
‘We do not organise (official) events,’ he adds, ‘since we believe the best event is for someone to open a bottle of Petrus – and to share this bottle with family and friends, around some good food.’
Jane Anson is Decanter’s Bordeaux correspondent, and was recently named Online Communicator of the Year in the 2020 Louis Roederer Awards. She has lived in the region for 17 years and writes a regular column for Decanter and a weekly column for Decanter.com. An accredited teacher at Bordeaux’s Ecole du Vin, her book titles include Bordeaux Legends: The 1855 First Growth Wines and Inside Bordeaux (£60, BB&R Press, April 2020), an in- depth study of the region
Petrus, Pomerol 2016 99
£ 2,900-£ 3,700 (ib) Widely available
Bottled in mid-August 2018, tasted in October 2018. This is already taking on the most amazing slow creep of well-defined, crisp violet, cassis, tight black fruits and fig notes; floral and fresh yet complex and ripe. It’s balanced by the most gorgeous burst of mint and slate, all stretching out slowly, delicately, gently. It’s more architectural than the monumental 2015, but no less impressive, beginning to really settle and take its time to gather its forces, to layer itself up. A pure, precise style, it holds your attention for many, many minutes after the wine has gone, both aromatically and intellectually. The overall impression is simply of pleasure. 50% new oak. Drink 2028-2050 Alcohol 14.5%
Petrus, Pomerol 2010 98
£ 2,800-£4,000 (ib) Widely available
Maybe it’s surprising to see a Pomerol that is so well-built that it’s nowhere near being ready even at 10 years old – but this is Petrus, a place that writes its own rules. The brushed silk exuberance is there, but it’s concealed underneath a still-pulsating wall of tannins. You expect this level of concentration in Pauillac, so it is more of a surprise from the Right Bank, but with this wine you are in no doubt that 2010 is an intellectual, demanding vintage that needs to be given time.
You need to look to 2009 Petrus (below) for something to broach any time soon – this 2010 is structured, full of dark fruits, savagely built, and out to impress.
Drink 2025-2050 Alc 14.1%
Petrus, Pomerol 2009 100
£ 2,700-£ 3,850 (ib) Widely available
Truly flavoursome, the blackberry, raspberry puree and rich black cherry fruits here are dense, generous and fully ripe, but manage to retain a savoury rosemary, coffee bean and black olive edge. It makes you smile involuntarily, in that way that great wine does. You almost want to forbid people from eating anything with this wine, at least for the first glass, and certainly forbid them from putting it on a table with other trophy wines where its impact will be softened. It demands – and should receive – full concentration. Textured slate runs through the mid-palate and brings a jolt of minerality through the finish. You could drink this today after carafing, but you just know that it’s barely out of the starting blocks. Drink 2022-2046 Alc 14.5%
Petrus, Pomerol 2008 96
£ 1,900-£ 2,550 (ib) Widely available
It’s tight and firm, yet it has incredibly embracing tannins that are still in their early phase of evolution, even though it is 100% Merlot. This is a trick that essentially nobody else in Pomerol is able to pull off to quite this extent. Some liquorice spice kicks through on the palate, along with dark plum and blackberry fruits, touches of white pepper and coffee bean. Extremely enjoyable and still extremely young. Drink 2020-2038 Alc 13%
Petrus, Pomerol 1999 95
£ 2,050 (ib)-£ 2,495 Widely available
The velvety texture is clear even on the nose, with truffle and chocolate shavings giving a mouthwatering opener. This is a lighter-framed Petrus than the 1998, but still one that pulses with intensity and complexity of expression. The tannins are finely boned, gently laid out to cushion the olive paste, plum and blackberry fruit, and it shows no sign of slowing down at 21 years old. Jean- Claude Berrouet remembers that the vintage needed more vigilance in the cellar than the 1998, with the need to resist over-extraction that would artificially fill in any gaps, and the result is a balanced and lyrical wine. A vintage that shows the virtue of clay, and the virtue of Pomerol, in that its wines ripened earlier and were therefore not affected when the weather turned rainy later in September (harvest here was 15-17 September after what had been an early-ripening year overall). 50% new oak. Drink 2020-2030 Alc 13.5%
Petrus, Pomerol 1998 100
£ 2,600-£ 2,900 (ib) Widely available
Richly scented like you wouldn’t believe: earthy truffle, undergrowth, black olive and rosemary fill the glass as your nose hovers over it, and they don’t let up right through the palate, providing waves of first aroma then flavour. At 22 years old, this provides apt evidence of why Petrus 1998 is a legend of 20th century wine. The vintage plays to all of Petrus’ strengths; a classic Merlot year that here combines velvety soft-edged tannins which carress and cushion the abundant black cherry, blackberry and bilberry fruit. Traces of campfire smoke, mocha and liquorice notes are shot through every mouthful, and this is just so good. Jean- Claude Berrouet was at the helm at this point, expertly conducting the many strands of the wine. Harvest 21-23 September. A small yield meant just 2,400 12-bottle cases compared to the usual 4,000. 50% new oak. Drink 2020-2032 Alc 13.5%