Chateau Petrus 10 Year Vertical tasting back to 1961! Hey it's my birthday weekend why not...

Jack: If they want to drink Merlot, we're drinking Merlot.

Miles Raymond: No, if anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am NOT drinking any fu*&^% Merlot!

Merlot is the second most planted varietal on the planet earth, although its popularity has helped give this outstanding varietal an identity crisis.

The name Merlot is thought to be a diminutive of merle, the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color of the grape. Its softness and "fleshiness", combined with its earlier ripening, makes Merlot a popular grape for blending with the sterner, later-ripening Cabernet Sauvignon, which tends to be higher in tannin.

When done right Merlot is one of the greatest wines on the planet.  When it is done wrong it is one of the least enjoyable of all wines.  After the boom of the late 1990’s which was sparked by the nations’ most popular news programs 60 minutes expose called “the French Paradox” where they discovered that the consumption of wine was linked to superior heath in people from France.  The U.S. started drinking more wine and Merlot was the bell of the ball so wineries planted this finicky varietal all over the state of California and beyond to quench the demand for this healthy elixir.  

There is no question among wine lovers that the greatest expression of this varietal is from Bordeaux and Pomerol the small one horse town is above all else when it comes to Merlot. There is also no question when it comes to supply and demand that Chateau Petrus is the most sought after of all the wines from Pomerol so when I acquired a bottle of 1961 Chateau Petrus there was no question that this would be placed into one of our "Once in a Lifetime" wine tastings ASAP.  It just so happened that my 50th was approaching and there would be no better occasion than this to experience this incredible wine than right now so here it is!

Tonight we will taste through an incredible line-up of Pomerol with a few surprises for those that attend this incredible “Once in a Lifetime” event that is the second in a three night celebration of drinking the world’s greatest wines- why because it’s my birthday!! 

Chateau Petrus Pomerol Wine Tasting back to 1961
Friday, March 1st
7:30pm

1961 Chateau Petrus Pomerol

1969 Chateau Cheval Blanc Saint Emilion

1975 Chateau Petrus Pomerol

1982 Chateau Petrus Pomerol

1982 Chateau L'Evangile Pomerol

1982 Chateau Vieux Chateau Certain Pomerol

1982 Chateau Le Bon Pasteur Pomerol

1990 Chateau Petrus Pomerol

1995 Chateau Petrus Pomerol

2001 Chateau Petrus Pomerol

2015 Chateau Petrus Pomerol

Menu

Selection of Cheese and Charcuterie

Wild Mushroom Forbidden Black Rice and Kobe Beef Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Cilantro Lime Crema and Green, Red and Yellow Pepper Puree

Venison Loin with Currant Demi and Carrot Souffle

Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee

The fee for this tasting is $2550 + tax for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

A bit about Chateau Petrus:

It is without question the most recherché claret on the face of the Earth.  Most wine aficionados have never even tried this ultra-exclusive wine.  Many say that it is overpriced, but those in the know realize that price is only relative.  Is Petrus a truly great wine or is it a greatly over-priced wine.  The production is so limited (less than 4,000 cases) that allocations are usually taken without even a mention of the asking price.

Things were not always so good for this tiny property.  The Petrus phenomenon is fairly recent.  A little over sixty years ago hardly anyone had even heard of Petrus, and fewer were interested in buying the wine.  Pomerol itself had not really caught the eye of the Bordeaux drinkers, it was not until 1900 that the Syndicate of Pomerol was founded; the commune was considered to be a lesser appellation of Saint Emilion.  Saint Emilion itself, until the latter portion of the nineteenth century was regarded as greatly inferior to wines coming from the Medoc and Graves.  This is the reason, not because of some self-imposed restriction, that the 1855 Classification consists (with the exception of Chateau Haut Brion) only wines coming from the Medoc.  Unlike the other areas in Bordeaux, Pomerol has never had a classification of its own. 

In the first mention of Petrus in the notebooks of the Bordeaux firm Tastet and Lawton it was owned by the Arnaud family.  This was in the 1830’s and at that time the only grand vins of Pomerol were, Vieux Certan, Petite Village and Trotanoy.  Petrus was added to this list a few short years later.  It remained in the Arnaud family until after the First World War and by this time they had firmly established Petrus as one of the top houses in Pomerol, in a good year it would fetch prices on par with a second growth Medoc wine.  Now a limited company, it was gradually acquired from 1925 onwards by Mme Edmond Loubat who became sole owner by about 1945. 

It was the Loubat family that brought Petrus to top-growth status; Mme Loubat was a woman of great personality, who never made the mistake of compromising the integrity of her product.  She took every opportunity to show the rest of the Bordeaux that her wines were as good as anything-made in Pomerol, Saint Emilion, and the rest of the Medoc. 

When the time came to pass the torch on at Petrus Mme Loubat was left in somewhat of a predicament.  She had no children and only two heirs, the only children of each of her two sisters.  These two were not tight, so Mme Loubat decided to give one share of Pertus to Jean Pierre Moueix which would enable him to have a say in the management of the property and to make an exact division of the remainder between the heirs.  Her confident and ally Jean-Pierre Moueix began as simply the proprietor of Chateau Fonroque in Saint Emilion but finding no negociant interested in his wine during the depression of the 1930’s, he set up a negociant business.  The Moueix family owed, farmed for absentee landlords or had the marketing rights, in part or exclusively, for the majority of the top properties in the area, including:  Lafleur-Petrus, Trotanoy, Lagrange and La Grave in Pomerol as well as Magdelaine in Saint Emilion.  In addition, Moueix sells a third of Cheval-Blanc, half of Ausone, and has been the sole agent for Petrus since 1947.  Moueix brought Lignac’s shares in 1964 and his son Christian is the sole proprietor and responsible for managing the chateau today.

The secret of Petrus begins with the soil.  The soil here is clay with a curious blue tinge to it.  Underneath this clay is an impermeable layer of hard iron soil known as crasse de fer, or machefer.  The vineyard is planted almost exclusively to Merlot with about 5% Cabernet Franc, however this is not always used in the grand vin blend, for it is only in exceptional years that the Cabernet Franc gets really ripe.  Therefore, Petrus is usually 100% Merlot. 

The vines are very old, an average of 40-45 years, some as much as 80 if not more.  Christian Moueix is a perfectionist and when a single vine gives up it is not immediately replaced.  This way he can maintain the venerability of not only individual vines but of sections of this vineyard and can thus tell you as well from which part of Chateau Petrus each vat of new wine comes and almost how old each constituent drop of the final blend is.  Perfectionism can often times be confused with eccentricity and Christian has been accused of being both.  In years when there has been rain at the time of harvest, he has employed helicopters to generate a downwind to dry out the grapes.  In 1992 the ground was lined with plastic sheets so that no moisture should penetrate the earth.  All of the grapes that go into Petrus are harvested on the same day; they even go to the extent of waiting until after lunch to begin the picking.  By the afternoon the dew has evaporated, and the berries are dry and warm potentially about a half degree of alcohol riper than in the morning. 

Chateau Petrus available in the store:

2015 Chateau Petrus Pomerol
Price: $3950.00    Your Price: $3476.00      Quantity in Stock: 2

(100 Points) When I asked winemaker Olivier Berrouet about his greatest challenges in 2015, he replied, "Our biggest challenge is to avoid all the temptations you can have in the vineyard and in the cellar. You can go too far. With our job, if you go too far, you can't go back. Little steps are best." His comments eloquently explain the immense pressure of handling a seemingly pressure-less vintage like 2015 in Pomerol. But, with the devil in all the many details that are involved in the pursuit of wine perfection, if anyone has that devil by the horns, it is this incredibly talented young winemaker. - Wine Advocate

1995 Chateau Petrus Pomerol (3 Liter)
Price: $15,000.00    Quantity in Stock: 2

1995 Chateau Petrus Pomerol (OWC)
Price: $3500.00    Sale Price: $2499.00       Quantity in Stock: 11

(96 Points) It is interesting how this wine continues to evolve. Unquestionably one of the vintage's superstars, the 1995 Petrus is taking on a personality similar to the extraordinarily backward, muscular 1975. This is not a Petrus that can be approached in its youth (i.e., the perfect duo of 1989 and 1990). The wine exhibits an opaque ruby/purple color, followed by a knock-out nose of pain grille, jammy black fruits, and roasted coffee. On the palate, it possesses teeth-staining extract levels, massive body, and rich, sweet black fruits buttressed by powerful, noticeable tannin. A formidably endowed wine with layers of extract, this is a huge, tannic, monstrous-sized Petrus that will require a minimum of 10 years of cellaring. Forget all the nonsense about Merlot producing sweet, soft, ready to drink wines, because low yielding, old Merlot vines made in the way of Petrus and other top Pomerols frequently possess as much aging potential as any great Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine in the world. Look for the 1995 Petrus to last for 50+ years. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2050. Petrus, the undisputed King of Pomerol, was an inconsistent performer between 1976 and 1988, but since 1989 there have been few Bordeaux wines that match this property for its extraordinary combination of power, richness, complexity, and elegance. The 1995 and 1996 are both noteworthy efforts. Wine Advocate #115, Feb 1998

1990 Chateau Petrus Pomerol (12 bottle OWC)
Price: $4950.00    Sale Price: $3999.00       Quantity in Stock: 11

(100 Points) The 1990 Petrus remains incredibly young, one of the least evolved wines of the vintage (along with Montrose and Beausejour-Duffau). This dense ruby/purple-colored effort is beginning to hint at the massive richness and full-bodied intensity lurking beneath its wall of tannin. The vintage's sweetness, low acidity, and velvety tannins are present in abundance, and the wine is massive in the mouth as well as incredibly pure and well-delineated. I thought it would be drinkable by now, but it appears another 5-10 years will pass before it begins to reach its plateau of maturity. This wine is capable of lasting at least four more decades. An incredible achievement!  The Wine Advocate

All the Pomerol in the store:

1937 Château La Conseillante Pomerol
Price: $1200.00    Sale Price: $999.00         Quantity in Stock: 1

1970 Chateau Trotanoy Pomerol
Price: $550.00    Your Price: $484.00          Quantity in Stock: 1

1982 Chateau L'Evangile Pomerol
Price: $695.00    Your Price: $611.60          Quantity in Stock: 10

1982 Chateau Le Bon Pasteur Pomerol
Price: $295.00    Your Price: $259.60          Quantity in Stock: 2

1995 Chateau Lafleur Pomerol
Price: $815.00    Sale Price: $595.00           Quantity in Stock: 2

2005 Chateau Lafleur Pomerol
Price: $2250.00    Your Price: $1980.00      Quantity in Stock: 6

2006 Chateau Le Bon Pasteur Pomerol
Price: $105.00    Your Price: $92.40             Quantity in Stock: 11

2010 Chateau La Fleur de Gay Pomerol
Price: $125.00    Your Price: $110.00          Quantity in Stock: 12

2010 Chateau Vieux Maillet Pomerol
Price: $72.00    Your Price: $63.36               Quantity in Stock: 6

2013 Chateau L'Evangile Pomerol
Price: $145.00    Your Price: $127.60          Quantity in Stock: 11

2014 Chateau Lecuyer Pomerol
Price: $54.00    Your Price: $47.52               Quantity in Stock: 2

2014 Chateau Hosanna Pomerol
Price: $157.50    Your Price: $138.60          Quantity in Stock: 6

2015 Chateau Marzy Pomerol
Price: $35.75    Your Price: $31.46               Quantity in Stock: 37

2015 Chateau Certan De May Pomerol
Price: $160.50    Your Price: $141.24          Quantity in Stock: 11