Château Petrus

Here are some tasting notes of wines from Chateau Petrus:

Chateau Petrus 1945

Like a twin of 61, the Petrus presented itself at Walter Eigensatz's big tasting in 1993 with a similar colour and nose, as well as a lot of pressure on the palate. Most recently in 2002, another authentic 1tel from an honourable wine friend, a wonderfully elegant wine with a beautiful sweetness, also appeared much older in colour, blossomed in the glass with time, a completely different style to the jammy, dubious magnums that often appear at paid tastings. Absolutely marvellous at René Gabriel's Petrus 2005 tasting, elegance in perfection, an absolute dream material that doesn't stop on the palate. Still beautiful berry fruit on the nose, fine sweetness. There are clearly ripe tones in the colour. In such a perfect and absolutely authentic magnum, this great 45 will certainly last another 10-20 years - 100/100 (source: Broadbent Michael).

Chateau Petrus 1947

Petrus can be a real hedonist's opera in good, genuine bottles. In 1993, in our tasting of the century, I rated it "21/20" over the perfect Cheval Blanc, an amazing wine. In 1995, a Belgian merchant bottling that was in no way inferior to the chateau bottling, dense, sweet, mocha, simply great - 100/100. In 1997, on Jörg Müller's 50th birthday, a French merchant bottling, initially restrained, needed a lot of air, dense colour, developed fine aniseed and liquorice aromas, became enormously powerful and long over time, very great Bordeaux - 98/100. In the same year a Calvet magnum, the lightest of the flight, little concentration, clearly weaker than my 1tel - 93/100. Petrus is also great as a Vandermeulen bottling, perhaps not quite as opulent as the Chateau bottling, but possibly more long-lasting. 1992 at Drawert Power, fullness, clearly more than a mouthful, long finish, still very fresh - 100/100. 1996 at a very high level only just inferior to the 47 Margaux Vandermeulen, also in 1997, where Conseillante Vandermeulen was also just ahead. In 2005, at René Gabriel's big Petrus tasting, the first Vandermeulen bottle was flat, the second had a dense colour, porty, sweet, huge, with endless power. This is power and splendour - 100/100. Two more bottles in the summer of 2005 also reached 100 points, one with infinite melting and fine sweetness, the other a little denser and younger. In 2007, again a clear candidate for 100/100 in terms of substance, but unfortunately corky, which hurts! And then, unfortunately, in January 2007 there was also a fake magnum that a wine lover had bought at a renowned auction house (source: wineterminator.com Dr Becker).

Chateau Petrus 1949

Petrus in the Vandermeulen bottling was much nicer. With a lot of luck, I was able to acquire several half bottles from Belgium at very reasonable conditions at the beginning of the 90s. In these, Petrus was never as opulent as 47, but always very strong and powerful and was always around 95/100. My Vandermeulen 1tel were significantly better... Once at the beginning of 99 with Franz Josef Schorn Trüffel pure with an incredibly dense colour, I have certainly never drunk anything better - 100/100, the twin bottle then at my rarities tasting six months later sheer perfection - 100/100. All bottles, mind you, from a reliable, very good cellar, where they had been stored since their acquisition at the time and therefore in very good condition. Also huge in 2005 at René Gabriel's Petrus tasting, like a perfect cuvée of Cheval Blanc and a great Burgundy with a fine, delicate flavour and endless length on the palate. Of course it can't compete with 47 in terms of power, but what a playful elegance and finesse - 100/100 (source: wineterminator.com Dr Becker).

Chateau Petrus 1952

Petrus is also big in 52. My first encounter with this wine was in 1993 at the Petrus tasting in the Wachau. A real sensation for the vintage and better than 50, explosive bouquet, long, opulent - 95/100. A top bottle in 1997 at Willi Krähling, dense colour, hardly any age, wonderfully spicy, complex and long - 99/100. A year later the twin bottle, great, dense material with beautiful length - 96/100. Most recently in 2004 at a tasting, wonderful, perfectly matured Petrus with a fine sweetness - 96/100. I would not hesitate here with good bottles with impeccable provenance. Petrus will certainly be fun for another 10+ years. In any case, I would prefer the Chateau bottling to the Vandermeulen version. The latter could never keep up with the Chateau bottling, drunk a good 10 times in the last 10 years and always rated 92-93/100. Most recently in 2005 at René Gabriel's big Petrus tasting, where the wine clearly showed that it was on the decline. Both bottles were already very ripe with slight oxidation tones, malty sweetness, but also a slight vinegar tinge - 92/100. There are also other Belgian retailer bottlings, recognisable by the original Petrus label without the addition "mise en bouteille aux Chateau". I drank one of these at Willi Krähling's in 1999, the wine of the evening and certainly on a par with the chateau bottlings - 97/100 (source: wineterminator.com Dr Becker).

Chateau Petrus 1953

1953 Petrus. Still so young with crazy aromatic pressure on the palate. In the nose fine, slightly exotic sweetness with coconut, reminded me of the best bottles of the 61 drunk so far - 100/100 (source: wineterminator.com Dr. Becker).

Chateau Petrus 1959

The 1959 Petrus is very highly praised, especially by those who are currently offering it at auction. On Walter Eigensatz's big Petrus tasting in 1993 a magnum, spicy, malty sweetness, big, strong acidity - 95/100. 1996 at Drawert then a Belgian Grafé-Lecocq magnum with very dark, strong colour without age, massive (too much!) acidity, tannic, degraded with time in the glass - 93/100. I was irritated on René Gabriel's Petrus tasting 2005 of Petrus in the Grafé-Lecocq bottling. Both bottles contained a giant with a crazy finish. Coffee without end and a eucalyptus note never before noticed in Petrus, certainly worth 97/100, but was this Petrus? (Source: wineterminator.com Dr Becker).

Chateau Petrus 1961

If you want to enjoy the mega-rare and ultra-expensive '61 Petrus, you need deep pockets, generous friends or both. And even then, there is still no guarantee that the bottle actually contains 61 Petrus. There are probably only a few wines with as many counterfeits as Petrus, especially in large bottles. My first 61 Petrus in 1993 on Walter Eigensatz's large Petrus sample was absolutely authentic and still very young - 97/100. I prefer to keep quiet about several subsequent bottles, all magnums in paid samples. In 2001, I was all the more excited about the highlight of a wine friend's '61 tasting, but unfortunately it was just a cheap egg-thief fake with an extremely young colour and a Rhone or Syrah nose. And since this poor person had bought two magnums of this wine, he put the second one on in 2004 and presented an authentic magnum that had been in a collector's cellar for several decades. The twin bottle of the cuckoo's egg was again the young Syrah, this time already somewhat matured, but the original was sensational, Petrus in perfection with a huge bouquet of flavours, incredibly powerful on the palate despite all its maturity, a clear, rare 100-point experience. And the moral of the story: only buy Petrus 61, like 47 Lafleur and others, from absolutely reputable sources with a 30-year-old original invoice. And even then, of course, there is no guarantee that the wine will correspond to the paper form. At René Gabriel's big Petrus tasting in 2005, the 61 was by no means a bad wine and certainly authentic in this magnum. But it was clearly more mature than I know it. The nose was still typical and quite nice, but not much happened on the palate. Where the 61 usually builds up a crazy aromatic pressure, this was just a fine, elegant wine that already seemed a little tired and lacking in power. I don't know the origin of the bottle, but I'm sure that it has already had a few owners. This effect often occurs with trophy wines that have travelled far and wide. It's better not to open it at all, but to maintain the illusion - 92/100 (source: wineterminator.com Dr Becker).

Chateau Petrus 1970

Great the Petrus. 1994 sensationally dense colour, huge potential, already shows a lot -98/100. 1996 drunk in Chicago in the Italian Village against the 75, which is also not exactly from bad parents, optically not optimal(ts), but with convincing content. Strong colour without ageing tones, at the beginning of drinking maturity and superior to the 75 - 99/100. Outstanding 2005 at René Gabriel's big Petrus tasting, so young, so fruity, such an explosive aroma. This is again Pomerol at its very best - 100/100 (source: wineterminator.com Dr Becker).

Chateau Petrus 1975

Unfortunately I have only drunk Petrus 5 times so far. 1996 strong colour with a clear brown tone, mint, pencil, a lot of power on the palate, chocolate, still strong tannins, very long finish, had survived 8 hours of decanting! - 97/100. A few months later in the Italien Village in Chicago in comparison to the 70, visually not optimal(ts), but with convincing content, strong colour without ageing tones, currently inferior to the 70, certainly needs another 5-10 years, whereby hopefully the fruit will survive - 96/100. 2005 on René Gabriel's big Petrus sample still an impetuous contemporary, spicy, herbaceous, biting tannins, strong, carrying acidity, in addition mint tones, but also chocolate and an intensive minerality, a hypothetical mixture of the best years Lafleur and Heitz Martha's Vineyard and still far from finished - 98/100 (source: Broadbent Michael).

Chateau Petrus 1989

I don't even want to think about the crazy prices of the extremely highly rated and sought-after Petrus. I have had this wine in my glass 5 times since 1993, including once in 2001 from a double magnum which, like all the other bottles, was too young. Most recently in 2005 at René Gabriel's big Petrus tasting, a totally closed nose, closed on the palate, you can feel a lot of power and biting tannins. There is only potential, no pleasure, unfortunately there is no more than 85/100 drinking pleasure in the glass at the moment (source: wineterminator.com Dr. Becker).

Pétrus is not a wine - it is a legend. Its rare combination of blue clay and ancient Merlot vines creates a unique style that outshines all classifications.