Petrus History, Overview

 

The most expensive wine in all of Bordeaux had a very humble beginning. Compared to the top Bordeaux wines in the Medoc, it’s also a relatively new producer. Especially in the high priced Bordeaux wine category. In fact, until 1982, while Petrus was not cheap, it was not that much money when compared to the other top wines of Bordeaux. It sold for about the same price as the First Growths in those days. Step back a decade to the 1970’s and Petrus sold for less than the First Growths. And if you really want to take a look back to the middle of the 19th century, the vineyards of Petrus were not even thought of as being worthy of making great wine! It was considered a luncheon claret, not fit for the dinner table!

 

Research shows the oldest records regarding the history of Petrus goes all the way back to the mid 1750’s, making it one of the earliest established vineyards in Pomerol. The first reference is for a transaction with Jacques Meyraud when he purchased some Pomerol vineyard property located at Gazin, from the Voisin family. This is interesting as well as prophetic, because a few hundred years later, Chateau Gazin once again sold some of their best land to Petrus.

 

Petrus, shares its name with its location, the hill of Petrus. However, there is a more historical side to the name of Petrus. During the times of the ancient Romans, the property was owned by a Roman named Petrus. The logo for the wine found its inspiration from the Greek version of St. Peter, “Petros.” Petrus like numerous Bordeaux estates was sold and resold countless times over the past few centuries. The son of the Voisin family, Pierre Voidin eventually sold Petrus to MM. Brilhouet and Courolle Brilhouet. They were local butchers from the nearby village of Libourne. Petrus was later sold to Antoine Arnaud in 1770. For more than a century, the Arnaud family maintained ownership of the property. At that time, the small chateau was widely known as Petrus (Arnaud).

  

By the mid to late 1800’s, the wine of Petrus was starting to become well-known. It was considered the third best wine in Pomerol, just after Vieux Chateau Certan and Trotanoy. The quality of Petrus and its wine began earning accolades shortly after the phylloxera epidemic devastated most of Bordeaux. Following the phylloxera attack, the vineyards of Petrus were replanted to mostly Merlot vines. From that time forward, the wine of Petrus was soon recognized to be of stunning and unique quality. In 1887, the linkage between Petrus and Gazin once again grew stronger when Gazin purchased vines from Petrus. By the close of the 19th century, Petrus had improved its wine and their level of fame continued to grow. It was at that time that Petrus was considered to be the best wine of Pomerol, selling for more money than any other wine from the appellation. Prices were equal to what the best Second Growths in the Medoc were selling for.

 

In 1917, M. Sabin-Douarre, who was employed as the former manager of Petrus purchased the Pomerol property. How or why this took place is not known. It was Sabin-Douarre who created the Société Civile du Château Pétrus. What happened next changed the history of Petrus, Pomerol and Bordeaux.

 

Sabin-Douarre loved dining at the best restaurant in the Right Bank, which was located in the city of Libourne, l’Hotel Loubat. In 1923, Madame Loubat, the owner of the hotel eventually became his partner in Petrus. By the end of World War 2, she managed to purchase the remainder of his shares in Petrus and Madame Loubat become the sole owner of Petrus.

 

The Loubat family knew the Bordeaux wine trade. They owned two small Pomerol properties at the end of the nineteenth century, Jeanlade and Chante-Caille, which morphed into Chateau Chateau Latour a’ Pomerol. Plus their brother was the Mayor of Libourne. With all that land, along with the best hotel and restaurant in Libourne, they were well connected.

 

The purchase of Petrus was finalized in about 1929 by Madame Loubat. Several years later, during the 1940’s, Madame Loubat entered into a contract with Jean-Pierre Moueix to handle the production and distribution of her wine. It was the combination of Loubat and Moueix that really gave Petrus the unequaled status it has today. They both knew that Petrus produced the finest wine in the entire appellation. To help prove it, they began charging prices as high as the best Bordeaux from the Medoc. It was agreed by the partnership of Loubat and Moueix that Petrus would never sell for a price lower than Cheval Blanc from that point forward. If Petrus costs that much, it must be worth it, right?

 

At Madame Loubat’s passing in 1961, since she had no children, her nephew, M. Lignac, and her niece, Mme Lily Lacoste each inherited 50% of Petrus. However, she also bequeathed a share of Petrus to Jean Pierre Moueix, allowing him to continue helping to run, promote and manage Petrus, as well as sell the wine all over the world. Following the death of Madame Loubat, Jean Pierre Moueix brought in the famed Professor, Emile Peynaud to help with the wine making at Petrus. That arrangement lasted only a few years, due to the busy schedule of Professor Peynaud.

 

In 1964, M. Lignac sold his portion of Petrus to Jean-Pierre Moueix. 1964 saw another important change at Petrus. In 1964, Jean Claude Berrouet joined the team at Petrus where he remained until 2008, when his son, Olivier Berrouet took over from him. Jean Claude Berrouet was responsible for more than Petrus, he was in charge of making the wine for the entire Moueix portfolio!

 

Petrus The Modern Age

 

In 1969, Jean-François Moueix, the oldest son of Jean-Pierre, purchased the remaining shares from Mme Lily Lacoste. That same year, he arranged to purchase 5 hectares of some of the best vineyards owned by Gazin. This was one of the great buys in all of Pomerol, as it allowed Petrus to vastly increase the size of their vineyards.

 

Jean Pierre Moueix started out as the owner of Chateau Fonroque in St. Emilion. Discovering negociant’s were not interested in his wine, he opened his own negociant company for the purpose of helping to sell his own wine. Out of need, the largest and most important negociant firm for Pomerol snd thevRight Bank was born. Today, the companies portfolio includes ownership in La Fleur Petrus, Trotanoy, Hosanna, Latour-Pomerol, Lagrange and La Grave in Pomerol as well as Bel-Air Monange and others in St. Emilion. In addition, Moueix is responsible for acting as a negociant for a myriad of Pomerol chateaux as well as properties in Saint Emilion.

 

In 1978, Jean Pierre Moueix finally took a breather and began to relax from his whirlwind life. At that time, the young, charming and always gracious Christian Moueix took on more responsibility at Petrus as well as at the negociant arm of the company. At that point in time, Petrus was the most expensive in the entire Right Bank. It was selling for the same amount of money as the famous First Growths. This was quite an accomplishment. Keep in mind, Château Lafleur was selling for about the price of a 4th or 5th growth. Pomerol was not the popular appellation it is today.

 

While Petrus had fame prior to the accession of Robert Parker, most of that fame was focused in London, Belgium, France and a few other markets that had an interest in purchasing the wine of Petrus. In America, Petrus was not that well-known, except to a few experienced Bordeaux tasters prior to the 1960’s. President John F Kennedy declared he was a fan of Petrus, which instantly gave the wine a much needed boost to its reputation in America. At that point, wealthy wine collectors wanted to taste the wine President Kennedy and his stylish wife, Jackie Kennedy were so fond of. While that helped start to establish Petrus in America, it needed more attention to become the legendary wine it is today. Enter Robert Parker.

 

The Explosion of Petrus in the Marketplace!

 

It can be argued that in some ways, Pomerol and Petrus made Robert Parker and Robert Parker helped make Pomerol and Petrus as well. This turn of events took place with the 1982 vintage. There is no denying the wines of Pomerol were capable of being extraordinary prior to Robert Parker, but his ceaseless praise and high scores catapulted Pomerol into the world spotlight. By 1982, Petrus was already selling for a slightly higher price than the First Growths. Within a few short years, Lafleur and Le Pin joined Petrus in that rarefied atmosphere of truly high priced wine. This new fame coupled with extremely high demand turned Petrus into one of the world’s most expensive and collectible wines! The old saying about rising tides raising all boats certainly works here. From that point forward, the entire Pomerol appellation started producing wines worthy of its terroir, with prices to match.

 

Jean-Francois Moueix and his children, are the owners of Petrus today. When Jean-Pierre Moueix passed away in 2003, he was just shy of his 90th birthday. At that point, his oldest son Jean-François Moueix took charge of Petrus, while, Christian Moueix, his other son managed the production. In 2005 Petrus enjoyed a much needed renovation and modernization of their cellars and vat rooms. The next chapter for Petrus opened in 2008, when the 33 year old Olivier Berrouet replaced his father as the wine maker for Petrus. Olivier Berrouet brought new ideas for the wine of Petrus. The wines seem fuller, fresher and offer more lush, ripe qualities as well as higher alcohol levels, depending on the vintage. It’s always a pleasure visiting with the father and son during the April tastings at Petrus.

 

The next major change for Petrus took place in 2014. Previously, Petrus was sold and marketed exclusively by Ets. Moueix. In 2014, everything changed. Petrus was now sold to a select group of negociants as well as to Ets. Moueix. For the first time Petrus was no longer sold on the same strictly allocated basis. However, Petrus is still sold on a market exclusive basis. Petrus could one day become available on the Place de Bordeaux in limited quantities for part of its production. Interestingly, this development could perhaps lead to even more demand and higher prices for the most expensive wine of Bordeaux. However, it is not the goal of Petrus to sell for the most money possible. Prices directly from the chateau are fair, for its quality and demand. The hope is that while the wine is expensive, people can afford to drink it on special occasions. The majority of the price increases take place in the secondary marketplace.

 

Petrus, Vineyards, Terroir, Grapes, Winemaking

 

The 11.5 hectare Petrus vineyard is unique. Divided into 12 separate parcels, it’s situated at the top of the highest elevation on the Pomerol plateau. This offers natural drainage. More importantly, the vineyards of Petrus has a soil and terroir unique to the estate. The clay in the Petrus vineyard is what makes the wine so special and unique. In fact, this type of clay does not exist in any other wine producing region in the world! Something else to consider that is only found at Petrus, for land devoted to the production of wine, Petrus is the only hill made entirely from clay. This is because clay usually erodes with time and falls to the bottom of the slopes, which is not the case with the soils of Petrus.

 

The Blue Clay of Petrus

 

What makes the terroir of Petrus so unique? The clay soils of Petrus is at least 40 million years old to start. The thick gravel on the surrounding plateau is only 1 million years old. There are two layers of clay at Petrus. The topsoil of dark clay is 60 to 80 centimeters thick. But it’s the unique subsoil that is not found in any other vineyard. The soil is packed with very, dense, deep, dark, blue clay. The clay is so hard, that the roots cannot penetrate. What happens is the vines quickly grow sideways to find nutrition as the vines do not go deeper than 60 to 80 centimeters. The clay is smectite. When this type of clay absorbs water, it becomes impermeable. The water molecules are able to penetrate the inter layer, molecular spaces of the clay. When the dry summer months arrive, the vines are still able to feed on the much needed moisture. The clue clay of Petrus creates grapes with the highest level of tannins in Pomerol and for most of Bordeaux, while at the same time, creates tannins that are also among the softest in texture.

 

The majority of the patch of blue clay on the Pomerol plateau is about 20 hectares in total. Petrus is unique as its entire 11.5 hectare vineyard is right on top of the clay. Neighboring vineyards only have a portion of blue clay in their soil. Petrus is planted with 11.5 hectares of Merlot. That means that today, Petrus is 100% Merlot. During the 1990’s and into the 2000’s, about 1/2 a hectare was reserved for Cabernet Franc, making the vineyard plantings about 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc.. However, the Cabernet Franc was not used in most vintages. In fact, since, 1982, the variety has only been included every third or fourth year. Today, all the Cabernet Franc vines have been remove and replaced with Merlot. This is quite different than what Petrus was planted to in the 1960’s and 1950’s, and perhaps before that. In those days, Petrus was planted closer to 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc.

 

On average, the vines of Petrus are 40 years of age. The Petrus vineyards are replanted at a pace that allows work to be conducted on a portion of one hectare every 7 to 9 years. While the average age is kept at 40 years, the oldest vines of Petrus were planted in 1952. The vineyard of Petrus is planted to a vine density that is about 6,600 vines per hectare for the oldest parcels. The younger parcels are planted at a higher vine density which is close to 7,000 vines per hectare. In 1985, Petrus began their own cloning program with the purpose of protecting and propagating their own vines when replanting. In the vineyards, they do not green harvest, preferring to clip the bunches to reduce the yields. Petrus was one of the earliest vineyards to eschew the use of chemical fertilizers, preferring instead to plant weeds to help dry our the soil, during the wet, winter months. Those weeds are later ploughed into the soil.

 

 

Petrus, Winemaking, Vinification

 

During the harvest, the berries are picked one at a time. The fruit is always 100% destemmed. Starting with the 2009 vintage, an optical sorter replaced some of the hand sorting. The grapes are gently crushed before vinification which takes place in a total of 12 traditional, temperature controlled, concrete vats. The vats range in size from 50 hectoliters, up to 130 hectoliters. The 12 vats almost allows for a complete parcel by parcel vinification as their are a total of 14 different blocks at Petrus.

 

Today, the practice is for a short pre fermentation maceration of one or two days. Previously, the maceration lasted as long as 15 to 21 days. Extraction is done by pump overs. 50% of the juice is pumped over in the morning. The remaining juice receives a pump over later that night. After the alcoholic fermentation is completed, the juice goes through malolactic fermentation in vat. Once the malolactic fermentation is finished, the vats deemed worthy of being bottled as Petrus are blended and placed in an average of 50% new, French oak barrels for 18-20 months. The barrels are steamed before the aging process to avoid the need for topping off during the aging process. At Petrus, large of amounts of new oak have never been part of the aging process, with the exception of a short, experimental period during the 1908’s.

 

Prior to the 1960’s, very little new oak was used for the aging process. During the 1960’s, perhaps 10-15% of the wine began to be aged in new oak. However, for a few vintages during the 1980’s, the wine was aged in 100% new, French oak for at least part of the production. It was quickly determined that was too much for the wine. If press wine is added, it’s only added into the wine during the final blending. There is no second wine at Petrus. Those lots which are rejected are sold off as generic Pomerol. And yes, where the declassified juice of Petrus ends up is one of the best kept secrets in all of Bordeaux.

 

It’s interesting to note that increased selection over the years has truly reduced the quantity of wine at Petrus. For example, during the 1970’s the average yields were close to 70 hectoliters per hectare. Today, the production is almost half of what it was previously with average yields of 40 hectoliters per hectare. The average production of Petrus is 2,500 cases per year.

 

 On to more important Petrus news. My ridiculously cute, yellow lab, Hercules, which some of you know from his antics on Facebook, or in the photos on this website, was officially inducted into the Petrus zoo! What is the Petrus zoo? I am glad you asked. Petrus has from time to time had an official mascot, which has been a different stuffed animal ranging from rabbits, to pigs and of course dogs. I was more than honored that a resemblance of Hercules was added to the Petrus menagerie by Olivier Berrouet and Elisabeth Jaubert, with James Suckling as the official witness for the induction ceremony. Congratulatory bones or other treats and bottles of Petrus can be sent to me for Hercules and I will see he gets them. I am more than honored that Herky is the official mascot for Petrus in the sublime 2015 vintage!

 

The best vintages of Petrus are: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2006, 2005, 2001, 2000, 1998, 1995, 1990, 1989, 1982, 1975, 1970, 1964, 1961, 1959, 1955, 1953, 1950, 1949, 1948, 1947, 1945, 1929, 1928 and 1921.

 

If you are seeking to purchase older bottles of Petrus, “Buyer Beware” is the best advice you will ever receive. Petrus is the most counterfeited wine in the world. Very few large formats were ever produced. Skip those. And the amount of authentic pre 1975 bottles of Petrus are almost non-existent. You should buy those wines from only verifiable, trusted sources.

 

Character and style of Petrus

 

The style of Petrus is unique. It can be the most aromatically complex wine of Pomerol, filled with spice, coffee, cinnamon, chocolate, plums, dark cherries, truffles, wet earth and fresh flowers. In the best vintages, the texture is other worldly. It has a richness and viscosity, as well as silk and velvet feel that no other Bordeaux wine can offer. Petrus requires time to develop. Even though it’s produced from almost 100% Merlot, Petrus is one of the longest lived Bordeaux wines produced. The best vintages of Petrus demand 20-30 years before they become fully mature and begin displaying their true essence and showing the reason why extremely wealthy wine lovers pay thousands of dollars for a single bottle of Petrus.