Pétrus

Know the unknown faces, places, terroir and winemaking behind the greatest producer of Pomerol (Bordeaux) and one of the most coveted wine in the history of wines.

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Pétrus is one of the most expensive and one of the most popular wines from all of Bordeaux. A wine that is a symbol of quality, luxury, exclusivity, and exuberance. It is like the Rolls-Royce in the wine world.

Pétrus gets its name from the hills with the same name. Going a bit more back in time, during Roman times the property was owned by a man named Pétrus. The logo of the wine takes inspiration from “Petros”, the Greek version of St. Peter.

Hailing from Pomerol, its name first appeared in records in 1837. In the 18th century, Jacques Meyraud bought some land in Gazin, from the Voisin family. His son Pierre,sold Petrus to MM. Brilhouet and Courolle, butchers at Libourne. It was acquired by M. Antoine Arnaud in 1770. The Arnaud family owned it for over a century.

The Arnaud family was one of the most important owners; they were the owners of Pétrus when the wine won a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition of 1878. This increased the popularity and price of the wine and impacted positively the fame of Pomerol as a region.

M. Sabin Douarre, a former manager at Pétrus purchased the property in 1817. How he was able to purchase this property is still a mystery. He loved to dine at l’Hotel Loubat and it was the owner of the hotel Madame Edmond Loubat who slowly started buying shares of the vineyard and by 1929 she completely owned the property.

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It was Madame Edmond Loubat who understood the fame that Pétrus deserved, she wanted to sell the wine at the level of first growth wines from Medoc. She even traveled to England with a case of her wine, sent it to Buckingham Palace for the coronation in 1953- the vintage is not known.

1943 started the partnership of Ms. Loubat and Jean-Pierre Moueix, who became the sole agent of the property, and under them Pétrus saw its height which included an introduction to the American market.

Jean Pierre Moueix.

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Upon her death in 1961 her nieces acquired the estate with some shares given to Moueix, slowly he acquired major shares. Currently owned by Jean-Francois Moueix and his children after the demise of Jean- Pierre Moueix in 2003 with Olivier Berrouet at the helm of winemaking.

Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix run by Moueix family today is also a world renowned negociants with popular labels like Château La Fleur-Pétrus, Château Trotanoy in Pomerol, Château Bélair-Monange Saint-Émilion; and, in Napa Valley, California, Dominus Estate and Ulysses; under their belt.

The Vineyards and Terroir

The complete 11.5 hectares is planted with 100% Merlot. In the 1990s and 2000s around 5% of vineyards which is around ½ hectare was reserved for Cabernet Franc. The proportion in the 1960s was around 80:20, 80% being Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. Since 2011 Pétrus is 100% Merlot.

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It’s the vineyard and soil that make the wine a gem. The vineyard is distributed in 12 parcels and is situated in the highest elevation of the Pomerol region, providing natural drainage to the vineyard. The soil is just next level, the soil type of Pétrus is unique to the estate itself. No other vineyard or region in the world has the same soil type.

Pétrus estate is located on hills made of blue clay, it’s the only hill made of clay specifically blue clay. Generally, clay soils erode to the bottom of the hill, but that is not the situation here.

This type of soil absorbs water but it cannot enter the clay, rather rests in the molecular spaces of clay molecules. So, when the summer arrives the vines still have access to the water that they need. The blue clay is the reason for Merlot with the highest tannins in Bordeaux and also for a very smooth texture.

The blue clay soil is a patch of 20 hectares, the complete 11.5 hectares on the hills of Pétrus vineyards and smaller patches to neighboring vineyards.

Winemaking at Pétrus

It is pretty astounding that 100% of grapes are destemmed while harvesting; that means every berry is picked individually. It was a completely manual process, but now they have bought some technology to reduce the load.

There are 12 temperature-controlled concrete vats where the gently crushed grapes are stored. This enables them parcel-wise vinification as the vineyard is distributed in 12 parcels.

After the fermentation process, the vats that are deemed worthy of becoming Pétrus are sent for aging in 50% new French oak barrels for about 18-20 months.

Fun facts and Tid-Bits

• Pétrus is a Bordeaux wine with no second label in its portfolio. It's only Pétrus.

• As mentioned before that only selective wines of prime quality in each vintage are used in Pétrus; no one knows where the declassified juice goes. One of the best-kept secrets in Bordeaux.

• There are certain vintages when Pétrus wine is not produced as well. It depends on dissatisfaction with the quality of juice achieved that year. The last vintage skipped was 1991; other vintages being skipped 1956 and 1965.

• The winemaker only produces an average of 2,500 cases a year, making it rare.

• In 1987, it rained heavily during harvest season. They hired out helicopters to dry out the grapes enough to pick them.

• The most expensive Pétrus to be sold at an auction was in 2011 Christie's sale in New York. A 1961 Pétrus was sold at $ 144,000; which is Rs. 1.04 crores at today’s exchange rate.