Petrus 2002

A relatively strong effort for this vintage, but hardly one of the profound examples of Petrus, this wine exhibits a dark plum color and a somewhat monolithic, foursquare personality with notes of plums, black cherries, licorice, and some herbs and damp earth. Medium-bodied, muscular, and tannic, but lacking some charm and sweetness, it should age nicely for 12-15 more years and possibly be even better than my score. Readers who buy it should not even attempt opening a bottle for at least 4-5 years.

Petrus is one of the most celebrated wines of Bordeaux and without contest the most famous wine of Pomerol of which it is the supreme archetype. Two persons are at the origin of the fame of this exceptional wine: Madame Loubat who transformed its - until then - anonymous reputation, and Jean-Pierre Moueix who made it into a great wine. Petrus has only one fault: the small size of its vineyard at 11.42 hectares or 28 acres. Added to the relatively advanced age of its vines and low yields (the amount of grapes on the vine), that makes for only 30 000 bottles that the entire world cries out for.