The winery is located in the heart of the commune of Pomerol in the area of the same name (Bordeaux). There is a small stone statue of the eponymous apostle in the winery. Although it won a gold medal at the 1878 World's Fair in Paris, the winery was little known internationally for a long time. This changed abruptly with the 1945 vintage, which is considered the wine of the century (see a bottle in the picture). In 1925, the estate was partly owned by Marie Louise Loubat (+1961) and was acquired in full by her in 1949. At that time, the vineyards covered 6.5 hectares with the varieties Merlot (70%) and Cabernet Franc (30%). In that year, Jean-Pierre Moueix (1882-1957) took over the exclusive distribution of the wine. After the death of the owner in 1961, Moueix acquired one third of the shares, the other two were inherited by Lily Lacoste (niece of Madame Loubat). In 1964, Moueix acquired further shares to now two-thirds. After the death of Jean-Pierre Moueix, his son Jean-François (*1945) took over in 2003, and his brother Christian (*1946) is in charge of production.
The vineyards were enlarged in 1969 by the purchase of 5 hectares of the neighbouring Château Gazin to a total of 11.5 hectares of vines. The vine stocking was changed to 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. This red wine is one of the best and most expensive wines in Bordeaux and also in the world. The 2000 vintage cost between € 3,500 and € 3,800 in 2010 (it should be opened after ten years at the earliest). The well-known wine journalist Hugh Johnson remarked: "Incomparable - but unfortunately only for millionaires". Pomerol does not have its own Grand Cru classification, but it is indisputably the top growth and at least on a par with the five Premier Cru Classé in the Médoc. Today, only "Petrus" is written on the label, but on old labels "Château Pétrus" is very much still listed (by the way, there is no Château = castle). Even in good years, no more than about 4,000 cases (~50,000 bottles) are produced.
The gravelly sandy-loam soil on a bed of ferruginous earth with particularly good water drainage creates excellent conditions. This is ideal for Merlot, from which 100% of the wine is pressed in most vintages. Another criterion is the vines, some of which are up to 70 years old. And a third point is the extreme yield restriction. During winter pruning, only eight eyes are left on each vine (even two more would increase the yield by a quarter). In summer, there is further restriction by rigorous thinning to about half. Special attention is paid to the grape harvest. A total of 180 harvest workers are on call. They start when the grapes have reached ideal physiological ripeness. They start in the afternoon so that the dew (which could dilute the must) has already evaporated. Harvesting is done in several passes of the ripe grapes. Unripe and unhealthy grapes are mercilessly eliminated. If necessary, unusual methods are also used. Once, when it rained before the harvest began, a low-flying helicopter was used to dry the vines.
The wine is aged for 18 to 22 months in 100% new barriques. Sensory tests are carried out continuously, and only the best barrels go into the Grand Vin. A special feature of this dark and tremendously concentrated red wine is its low acidity, which makes it soft, round and smooth. Despite its high tannin content, the wine is delicate and oily, which you can literally bite and chew. It is said to have aromas of blackcurrants, blackberries, mulberries and plums, to which tobacco notes are added over the years. As already mentioned, the wine should at best not be opened before ten years, the shelf life is 30, 40, 50 years and even longer. It is actually a wine that should be bequeathed to one's heirs after purchase. Particularly outstanding vintages were or are 1964, 1967, 1971, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1998 and 1999.
In the mid-1990s, the estate hit the headlines of the wine-oriented trade press when the authenticity of Impériale bottles of the Château Pétrus vintages 1921, 1924, 1926, 1928 and 1934 owned by the well-known collector Hardy Rodenstock (1941-2018) were doubted by the famous wine writer couple David Peppercorn and Serena Sutcliffe and offered for sale. The suspicion was never proven, but also not disproved, because there are no production records for these vintages on the part of the winery.
Picture left: By Cassander the Minoan from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Picture right: By Frederik Vandaele - Flickr as Château Pétrus, CC BY 2.0, Link
