2009 Petrus, Pomerol, Bordeaux
Critics reviews
Truly flavoursome, the blackberry, raspberry puree, and rich black cherry fruits here are dense, generous, and fully ripe, but they manage to retain a savoury rosemary, coffee bean, and black olive edge. It makes you smile involuntarily in the 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. The 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
Jane Anson, Decanter.com (February 2019)
The 2009 Petrus has a delineated and focused bouquet with subtle fireside hearth/ash-like scents infusing the sensual red fruit, with hints of Earl Grey emerging with time in the glass. The palate is very well balanced with fine tannin, demonstrating a little more backbone than the 2009 Le Pin. A tad more grip, possibly due to some Cabernet Franc, lends another dimension towards the persistent finish. You could possibly broach this now by decanting, but it needs another year or two. Profound.
Drink 2020 - 2060
Neal Martin, Vinous.com (March 2019)
100% merlot; 14.2% alcohol; 3.8 pH; 40 ha/hl; a 65% selection; 50% new oak).
Fully saturated ruby-red. Mindblowingly intense, utterly hedonistic nose redolent of sexy, super ripe blueberry and blackcurrant complicated by sweet Oriental spices, cocoa and coffee. Then, delicate smoke and flint nuances complement the creamy-smooth, downright voluptuous, superconcentrated blackberry, blueberry, and plum flavours.
The utterly palate-saturating finish features silky-smooth tannins and finishing fruits, spices and minerals that go on for minutes thanks to harmonious acidity. The strength of finishing minerality goes beyond what I usually associate with this wine. The final wine may contain 1% Cabernet Franc, but that decision was not made during this tasting. This wine merits 100 points on the strength of its nose alone.
Ian D'Agata, Vinous.com (May 2010)
Medium to deep garnet colored, the 2009 Petrus gives up glorious scents of preserved plums, redcurrant jelly, dried rose petals, blackberry compote and mulberries with touches of licorice, Chinese five spice and fragrant earth. Full, rich, plushly textured and oh-so-decadent, it reveals layer upon layer of spice box, black fruit and ferrous notions, finishing long and fragrant.
Drink 2020 - 2060
Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, Wine Advocate (March 2019)
This is one of the larger Petrus productions in recent years, with nearly 3,000 cases of this vintage turned out by proprietor Jean Moueix.
An opulent Petrus very much in the stylistic family of 1990, this 100% Merlot has a dense plum/purple colour and a sweet nose of mulberries, black cherries, some subtle toast and liquorice, as well as a floral element. A wine of great intensity, a multidimensional mouthfeel, full-bodied, and stunning concentration, the 2009 Petrus is everything one would expect of it. Given the sweetness of its tannin, much like the 1990, I suspect this wine will always be “open for business,” appealing even in its youth.
Drink 2016 - 2050
Robert M. Parker, Jr., Wine Advocate (December 2011)
Tasted blind
Mid-bright crimson. Mild and well-balanced without showiness. Very sweet. Thick, dense and rather essence-like. This should have a long life. It is quite refreshing, actually! Great savour on the end.
Drink 2018 - 2044
Jancis Robinson MW, JancisRobinson.com (March 2019)
Tons of truffle and chocolate make this lush and fleshy Pomerol very seductive. The power and concentration are impressive, but right at the opulent and silky finish, there’s just a hint of warmth from the alcohol.
Drink or hold
James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com (February 2019)
Dark ruby. Ripe red cherry, cocoa, exotic herbs, soy sauce, sweet spices and a hint of liquorice on the showy, opulent nose. At once fat and juicy, with firm-edged dark berry flavours contributing very good grip and backbone to softer, fleshier plum, black cherry, chocolate syrup and sexy Oriental spice flavours.
Finishes juicy, minty and fresh, with very broad, lingering notes of sweet, ripe, dark berries and milk chocolate. This memorable wine is everything you’d expect Petrus to be, but right now, the 2010 is the more precise and concentrated of the two wines.
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous.com (July 2012)
About this WINE
Petrus
Petrus is a wine estate in Pomerol on the Right Bank of Bordeaux. It is among the most celebrated and recognisable wines in the world.
While the estate can trace its history to at least 1837, it flew relatively under the radar until around the 20th century. Madame Loubat, who became the sole owner in 1945, felt that the estate was truly special, and her efforts were instrumental in establishing Petrus on the world stage. She also appointed Jean-Pierre Moueix as the exclusive agent; he and his sons Jean-François and Christian were key in building the estate’s modern reputation. The Moueix family became majority owners here in 1969. In 2018, they were joined by American-Colombian Alejandro Santo Domingo, who purchased a 20% stake.
Petrus is located atop the Pomerol plateau. Most of its vines sit on a so-called “buttonhole” of blue clay soil, known as smectite. This soil’s ability to retain water is a huge benefit in the Pomerol appellation, where drought is a known issue. The vineyard is planted mostly to Merlot.
The estate is run today by winemaker Olivier Berrouet, previously of neighbouring Château Cheval Blanc. Olivier joined in 2008, taking over from his father, Jean-Claude, who had produced 44 vintages of Petrus in his time.
Pomerol
Pomerol is the smallest of Bordeaux's major appellations, with about 150 producers and approximately 740 hectares of vineyards. It is home to many bijou domaines, many of which produce little more than 1,000 cases per annum.
Both the topography and architecture of the region is unremarkable, but the style of the wines is most individual. The finest vineyards are planted on a seam of rich clay which extends across the gently-elevated plateau of Pomerol, which runs from the north-eastern boundary of St Emilion. On the sides of the plateau, the soil becomes sandier and the wines lighter.
There is one satellite region to the immediate north, Lalande-de-Pomerol whose wines are stylistically very similar, if sometimes lacking the finesse of its neighbour. There has never been a classification of Pomerol wines.
Recommended Châteaux : Ch. Pétrus, Vieux Ch. Certan, Le Pin, Ch. L’Eglise-Clinet, Ch. La Conseillante, Ch. L’Evangile, Ch. Lafleur, Trotanoy, Ch. Nenin, Ch. Beauregard, Ch. Feytit-Clinet, Le Gay.
Merlot
The most widely planted grape in Bordeaux and a grape that has been on a relentless expansion drive throughout the world in the last decade. Merlot is adaptable to most soils and is relatively simple to cultivate. It is a vigorous naturally high yielding grape that requires savage pruning - over-cropped Merlot-based wines are dilute and bland. It is also vital to pick at optimum ripeness as Merlot can quickly lose its varietal characteristics if harvested overripe.
In St.Emilion and Pomerol it withstands the moist clay rich soils far better than Cabernet grapes, and at it best produces opulently rich, plummy clarets with succulent fruitcake-like nuances. Le Pin, Pétrus and Clinet are examples of hedonistically rich Merlot wines at their very best. It also plays a key supporting role in filling out the middle palate of the Cabernet-dominated wines of the Médoc and Graves.
Merlot is now grown in virtually all wine growing countries and is particularly successful in California, Chile and Northern Italy.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
The 2009 Petrus is defined by an incredible concentration of fruit, glorious freshness, and perfect balance. Intense aromas and flavours of fresh raspberries and blackberries mingle with beautifully ripe, smooth tannins that glide across the palate like silk. Like so many of the very top wines of this vintage, this is elegant yet effortless, leaving a long, lingering finish and a wonderful sense of harmony.
Berry Bros. & Rudd
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