Pétrus (wine)

Château Pétrus is a wine estate in the French wine region Pomerol in Bordeaux. It produces the red wine Pétrus, one of the most prestigious and expensive wines in the world. It is a status symbol, which is also coveted as an investment. In wine quality but the Pétrus is with other less famous and expensive wines of Pomerol Château Lafleur or as Château L' Evangile par and even exceeded them in some vintages. The cultivated in the vineyards of Pétrus varieties are primarily Merlot and a little Cabernet Franc.

Winery and products

A stone figure of the Apostle Peter is the namesake of the small winery which is emphasized by the light blue window frames, only the Château Petrus shows in the area. In early 2000 the main building was completely renewed.

The vineyards of the estate is only 11.5 ha, this is planted to 95% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc with. The use of grapes decides after the harvest, in many vintages no Cabernet Franc flows, so that the Peter is a pure varietal Merlot and Cuvée no. In the 1950s, the proportion of Cabernet Franc was still at 30 %. The vines are over 40 years old, the yield varies between 15 and 45 hectoliters per hectare, the wine is aged 19 months in new oak barrels exclusively, it will not be filtered, a second wine, there is not.

In years in which the critics give the wines of the highest scores, the bottles rates may be in excess of 2000 euro, even in poorer years old is a bottle rarely below 300 euros. Only wines of Burgundy winery Domaine Romanée -Conti are sometimes even more expensive. In the region there are lesser-known neighbor goods such as La Conseillante and Lafleur, whose wines are often offered at a third the price of Pétrus.

The winery is owned by Jean -Pierre Moueix, which include not only Pétrus yet more wineries.

The annual production is only 25,000 to 30,000 bottles, so the wine is rare because of the low production volume in the market. Often the trade to acquire a bottle of Pétrus is linked to other purchases, so offered Mövenpick 2002 in Germany in the subscription wines Pétrus to, only with a purchase of other wines worth at least 4,000 euros a single bottle of Pétrus was sold to the customer.

Site and soil

The vineyards are located in the so-called buttonhole Pétrus. The plateau of Pomerol consists primarily of gravel, with a subsoil of clay. Where Pétrus is today, was worn by erosion highest elevation. Thus, the gravel -sand layer is only about three feet thick here. This geological buttonhole covers 20 hectares, of which 11 hectares to Peter expire. In it the special position of Pétrus is justified under the Pomerol wines. The iron-rich clay layer gives the Pétrus its lush round fullness that always dominates over the tannins and is responsible at the age of truffle -like flavors.

History

The winery has existed since the late 18th century, when the family Arnaud docked the vineyards. Château Pétrus but was not always the leading good of Pomerol. Only in the second half of the 19th century was Pétrus as the number 3 in Pomerol Vieux behind certan and Trotanoy. The great era began in 1925, when Madame Edmond Loubat started buying up parts of Pétrus until 1945 was the sole owner. The 1945s - " wine of the century ," it was finally, definitively established the Pétrus among the eight great Bordeaux red wines. After the death of Loubat 1961, the heirs sold gradually to Moueix, who united with Pétrus, reaching the best 4.5 ha of the neighboring Château Gazin today's vineyards.

Harvesting and production

In the winery Pétrus selective, manual grape harvest is operated. In this case a parcel is not harvested at once, but several times, so that only ripe grapes are read. This costly method is now used by other manufacturers that produce top quality wines. It is also practiced in the production of sweet wines such as read, berries and Trockenbeerenauslese in Germany and Austria, and at the outbreak, Sauternes and Tokaji.

In addition to such methods even unusual procedures are used by Château Pétrus, in rain before the harvest, a low-flying helicopter is used for drying the vines.

The demand for quality means that not all the grapes for its products used in poorer years, but to be sold to other tenants.

From the wine Pétrus are many fakes in circulation. Especially in this Pétrus vintages as: ., 1990, 1989, 1982, 1970, 1961 and 1974 Since the end of the 1990s, each bottle is engraved to witness the authenticity from the manufacturer.